My name is Lloyd Ziegler. I first became acquainted with Bees in Sierra Leone, West Africa, while serving with the U.S. Peace Corps in 1972. A friend of mine needed help removing bees from a tree, since he had lost his good arm in an accident. He was of the "Bee Clan", i.e. his totem animal was the honeybee. I remember cutting the tree down with an axe, plunging my hands into the hole where the hive was, and removing gobs and clumps of bees with my bare hands. I received no stings at all. This, despite a total lack of protection (dressed in only shorts), while all the others in the visible area were yelling, running, and swatting at their hair, as they were being viciously attacked. I knew nothing about bees then, and just assumed that my friend knew what he was doing (which he obviously did!) and that everything would be fine. Ah, the naivity of youth, which in this case served me well. These were the infamous African "Killer" bees, by the way. Anyway, this fond memory stuck in my mind, and a few years later I began keeping bees in the National Forest of Arkansas. I have been doing it ever since. I do it as a sideline, having less than 100 beehives, which lets me spend a lot of attention on each hive. I have found that beekeeping is unique, in that every aspect of it is beneficial to the planet and the creatures that live on it. There is no destruction of habitat at all; the soil is enriched, rather than depleted; agriculture is enhanced in many ways; and people benefit greatly from the many hive products. It seems more than coincidence that the things that bees produce are ALL beneficial to man. I have been employed in many fields in my life, from logging to teaching,  but beekeeping has been  one which seems to have absolutely no negative effects on the planet, only positive ones. I support it fully, and am glad to give support to anyone who wants to begin keeping bees.

I have one living son, Wren Ziegler, is a gifted artist both on paper and in sound, who lives in Tulsa. My parents live in Nashville, TN and you can see a photo in the gallery of my Mom being brave, holding a frame of hundreds of bees with no protection at all. She has grit, but also knows that my bees are gentle.