Feb 10, 2022
Posted by: Robin Leigh
May 8, 2019
There’s a moment when all the pieces come together, and you see, taking shape before you, the perfect culmination of every idea and every image you had.
The past few weeks, we’ve watched all our nights and weekends, and theories and headaches and hopes go from pure ideation to actual, testable reality. And it wouldn’t be possible without the people.
First, we found Dick Rogers, and he was our guru and guide, giving us more information than we’d ever be able to find on our own and validating our ideas.
Carissa has become the resident essential oil expert and understands their efficacy and toxicity, how to prevent degradation, and how to test for purity.
Then Mitch, who is now taking the fruit of our many circuitous Slack conversations and turning them into viable product design ideas. When we mention, “Hey, how about hamster feeders,” he knows how to translate that into an idea we could use. 
He’s doing incredible work, and we’ve been brainstorming with him on possible ways of dispensing the essential oils within the BeeKeep itself (hence the, uh, hamster feeder idea). What Mitch brings to the table can’t be understated; we can say, “Hey, what about this,” and he comes back with elegant, well-thought-out ideas. He is KILLING IT.
We have the EPA (THE EPA!) giving us the green light to proceed and are actually invested in us succeeding.
And now we have Jim, whose experience and knowledge (and honey bees) mean we can move on to testing the efficacy of the essential oils and the behavior of the bees when they encounter them. (More on our test plans with Jim soon!)
We’re really doing this. Every piece is coming together to build a whole, powerful, and effective solution to save the bees.
Up until now, there has been a sense of fumbling in the dark, with only an idea of where the obstacles lie. This meant inching forward, arms outstretched, and hoping we didn’t run into walls. There’s a sort of magical confluence of skills and expertise and passion now, and the light has been switched on.
Full steam ahead.
(Don’t tell anyone we mixed this many metaphors.)