28 'vVhile most people's ideal pet was a cat or a dog, freshman Ansley \1\Tatson had several hundred pets equipped with stingers. With five years' experience hiving honeybees as a personal hobby, she knew a thing or two about responsibility. "My family and I would always go to the llLnois State Fair in Springfield," Watson said. "It was a tradition to get honey ice cream from the beekeeper exhibit, where I got to see all kinds of honey and even a display of bees walking around a comb in a glass structure." Her interest sparked, Watson convinced her father and uncle, former beekeepers themselves, to help herjumpstart her own hives. She even took courses from the Illinois Beekeeper Association. "I went to informational meetings and seminars, and I was probably the youngest person there, considering everybody was about 50 or older," Watson said. "I always laugh at people's reactions because they think I'm not the kind of person to do this. It's a great conversation starter." After attending a beekeeping exhibit at the Illinois State Fair, Watson convinced her father and uncle, former beekeepers themselves, to Emma Keith Raleigh Kellis Kayli Kendall Carly Kendrick Laura King Zachary Kirk Gunnar Klemmer Elizabeth Knittle Grant Kronenberger Sarah Kulik Katie Lake Nicole Langlois Vanessa Lewis DanHongLi JennaLight Freshmen t)\ help her jumpstart her own hives. She even took courses from the Illinois Beekeeper Association. Over time, Watson grew to love and care for the bees as she would any other pet. "My favorite part about the job is that I can go out to a hive, open it up and just observe how they interact, what jobs they do to keep the hive going," \1\Tatson·said. "I also love honey, so harvt;sting my very own honey once a year has an accomplishing feeling to it. Beekeeping will probably always be a hobby for me. I have three hives right now." Most importantly, Watson felt she had learned some lessons over her years of beekeeping that were applicable to her spiritual faith. "The honey bee is very loyal to the queen bee and the hive; the queen bee is the only thing that matters," Watson said. "I feel like we should be like tlus for God, spending our entire lives working for him. We push God off to the side too often and don't put him as priority. Beekeeping has taught me that I should work harder and live for the one who created me." Sarah Eason • . ._,.: .... . .·.·_./. -· .... •.· ..... ·, ~ ' ' -~ .., . . ~ ... , .. , \ •) ~)I ~~ "' .· \ .. ... ... . ... - -~~ ~ ;,~ · ~1 ., f ~·
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