Did your grandpa know my grandpa?

December 28th, 2024 in a holiday house on the shores of Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri, USA, my mind was blown looking at family pictures my cousin Heather brought from Texas. I have grown up hearing stories of my great grand parents making a small fortune selling honey during the WWII sugar rations and travelling the world. But seeing seeing pictures of their travels and seeing familiar Australian names and places printed in the Sutherland Nebraska local paper, Courier Times in 1961 just blew me away.

It turns out that in early 1961, my great grandparents, Beatrice (1894-1994) and E.H. Adee (1894-1980) spent three months covering over 20,000 miles by airplane and another 10,000 miles by train and bus touring "Downunder", visiting Tahiti, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia. They also travelled extensively in Asia and Europe in 1965 and to South America in 1966, completing their "around the world" mission.

What caught my eye was the only newspaper clipping saved from the over 20 articles E.H and Beatrice wrote about their travels was about Australia (I have since found the rest on newspaper.com). Along with stats and facts about Australia, my great grand parents mention spending three days with John Gilifoyle- saying John will come visit them in Nebraska on May 1st (1961). They were also hosted by the Queensland State beekeepers- who were very interested in their methods of beekeeping.

Over six weeks, they visited Tasmania, Melbourne, Mildura, Adelaide, Broken Hill, and Sydney- and many places in between. While in South Australia, they went to Wirrabara to see some beekeepers "but especially a honey house that was supposed to be one of the best in Australia". They spent a weekend with beekeepers driving all over the country side and were able to check a few hives of bees.

During my last decade in Australia, I have also traveled the countryside checking out a few hives of bees. Perhaps with the grand children of the kind people that hosted my great grand parents so long ago.

My great grand parents travelled at a time then the world was just opening up- commercial airlines were available and people had money to spend. They spent nearly three years going slow, talking to people, getting a feel for the similarities and differences of cultures, landscapes, industries, and climates. But their baseline- what everything else compared to was home. To travel the world and then be able to come home and tell their people about what they saw, did, learned. Astonishing.

I left the United States over a decade ago and have long since stopped comparing Australia to a familiar baseline. In fact, I have had to create a new baseline- learn a new culture- a new language, a new way of being. And thats ok. Hard, lonely, lovely, ok.

I've known that my great grandfather was a beekeeper- but what I learned recently is that his father was a beekeeper too. And his uncles, and his brothers. And they had sons, and daughters had husbands that also became beekeepers. When I look up at my family tree- on my father's side- it is a huge humming buzzing sweetly dripping symphony of people and bees and families working together in the sweetness of life.  I will keep looking, but so far I might be one of the first women in my family to take up the profession on my own accord- and that says something.

Although I am so far away-that blood runs gold in me too, as if it is simply who we are- beekeepers. It grounds me and gives me faith that I am right where I am ment to be, doing exactly what I am ment to do.