The Real Estate Agent Who Became a Beekeeper

Becoming a professional beekeeper was not something I had ever considered when I was a student, so I trained as an economist and became a real estate agent. after working for 10 years I landed my dream job, brokering shopping malls and larger commercial properties for a British-American consulting firm. My goal of completing 100 million deals was achieved! It wasn’t my money, but I got to play with the big players, which was in my mind proof of success. However, the grass is not always greener… What I found was a harsh corporate culture largely populated by self-serving individuals, and after four years, I was completely burned out. It took me three months of sick leave for me to gain clarity, and once the fog lifted, the decision was simple: from now on, I would only do things that were fun and rewarding. I resigned and started working as a musician and singer (not as far-fetched as it may seem – I supported myself by busking during my student years. Click here if you’re curious to hear it). Later, I co-founded a digital printing company and then Kristinehovs Malmgård, a social enterprise with the goal of creating jobs for people who have difficulty entering the labor market. I have also been involved in starting the company Belgoklubben.be.

The First Hives

I bought three bee colonies as a hobby for my summer cottage. I still remember how I, with a mixture of fear and excitement, first opened the hives and started inspecting the frames. I immediately entered a flow state and forgot about time and space, a state that I can still easily enter when I open a hive. After about a week of being a hobby beekeeper, I finally knew what I was meant to do.

Beekeeping Is Not Like Other Businesses

I have always been a very goal-oriented person and have always made plans with clear milestones to check off. So, of course, I approached beekeeping in the same way, with an elaborate five-year plan to purchase 20 hives and then double the number of colonies every year through splits. There was just one thing I failed to account for – the fact that the bees had their own plans. I had to learn the hard way that beekeeping is nothing like other ventures. In a typical business, if things don’t go as planned, you just roll up your sleeves and put in as many extra hours as needed to solve the problem. In beekeeping, however, there are windows for when certain things can be done, and if it doesn’t work out at that time, you will have to wait until next year for a new chance. This was extremely frustrating for a result-oriented person like me, but it was also a useful lesson that has made me more patient. The targets have become less important in favor of the process. Yeah, I know it sounds like the usual “carpe diem” stuff, but it is nonetheless true.

The goal of my beekeeping is no longer a certain number of hives or a certain amount of honey. It is simply having as many hives as I can attend to with a reasonable workload. Nor is the target a certain annual income. The annual income, incidentally, is only a fraction of what it was when I had a corporate job, but I’m quite okay with that. I thoroughly enjoy what I do, and that is what is most important to me nowadays.