Internship!
Last Week Reflection: Bees, Bees, and more BEES!
On the last Monday I arrived at work at about nine AM. Throughout the day they had me do several tasks and since most of the business of getting everything ready was finished I mainly focused on making frames for hives. In the morning first I helped Tim find frames in their basement that had small cells so that the queen would lay worker bees and not mostly useless drones. After that I labeled some small jars and lip balms. Eventually we ran out of things to do in the house so Don took me out to his workshop to show me around and what his current project was. He was putting together frames. It was kinda like a little puzzle, sticking the right pieces where they belong and using a staple gun to keep them together then finally putting a thing layer of plastic coated with wax with a design of bee hive cells on them. This simple pattern would help the bees build their comb the right direction and with the right size cell. I did this for a while until Tim came by and wanted to take me around to see the different hives and to check up on them. The majority of the hives were calm and I was asking Tim questions as we looked in the hives and as he wrote notes to himself on the tops. The last few hives that he checked were stronger hives, however, meaning that they may be more protective of their home. Another thing I found out is that much of the time the hive's personality depends on the queens personality. If the queen is more aggressive then the rest of the hive will be. Tim and I stumbled upon one of these hives. Tim got a few stings being all up in the hive on his face but he just brushed them off because he is already used to it but not me. I felt one sting me and I did the worst thing to do, SWAT! Tim told me to just run and not swat but I did both. I quickly ran by Don's workshop and into the house. Autumn brought me a piece of potato and I put it on the area of effect. I only got one sting that day but it was right on the cheek. On the second day I worked with Don again and I realized I started developing a fear of bees. I love them but they are just too unpredictable. I also got stung on this day as well, on the top of the ear! Finally, on the third day I worked with Don a bit then helped scrape off the rust and bubbly paint from their new shipping container they would soon transform into a honey room. Where they would spin the honey and prepare it. Overall, I appreciate the Gormicks for this opportunity so much. It was an amazing experience and well worth it! I feel like I made some very trust worthy friends that are great people.
Last Day Not-So Awkward Selfie with the Gormicks!
Week 2 Reflection:
This second week we ended the majority of the business of the rush to get everything done on the first day. On the first day of the week, Monday, I tried to arrive early as I could without being exhausted so I could be helpful throughout the day. On that day everyone was helping out! Their two sons Jeremiah and Noah were helping with the packaging and getting the products ready with me and we worked until about 7 PM. I got a good ten hours in but compared to Autumn and Tim that was nothing. I have to hand it to them, they are super hard workers that don't take failure for an option as Autumn says. I am pretty sure Tim stayed up until about 3 AM and Autumn 5:30 AM getting everything ready for the next day. On Tuesday, once again, we started the day early. Tim, Noah, Jeremiah, and I packed up the van with all of the bee products and Tim and I headed off on a delivery trip. We started the trip by going to a shipping bay to ship the majority of what we packed in the van to the other Hawai'i Islands. After that Tim felt that I needed to go the Macadamian Nut Factory to look around and try a whole bunch of free samples to truly have the full Hawaiian experience just like he said when he got me some malsadas, Hawaiian doughnuts, or that time they got me shaved ice. On the first two days I worked around ten to eleven hours willingly, they did not make me slave away or anything, so the third day was my last day this week. Because I only had to work about eight hours on Wednesday we thought it would be great for me to go to the Wednesday Farmers Market. It would be a more relaxing day, mainly talking and working at their stand. It was a great experience talking with many of the people there. Asking if they wanted a free sample and reeling them in to even just start a conversation with them. Something that I found during the market was that the people who stayed the longest were the ones who bought the most things. Even though talking to them may seem like somewhat of a waste of time it is important to be patient because they are the ones who will talk about your business the most. Overall, this week was a good one. I got to know the Gormicks a little more and learn more about their business and their lives.
Week 1 Reflection:
Over the course of my first week working with the Gormicks we mainly did repetitive work but it was a great way to introduce me into their business. The reason why it was a lot of busy work is because once a month they have to get all of their products made and labeled such as honey jars, bee wax candles, lip balm, soap, and many other nifty things and go around the island and deliver to all of their accounts. On the first day of my internship I was taken to their hives just to check them out and to see what they do and how they treat the bees. What surprised me is that they do not wear any protective suits or anything. The reason they are so comfortable with the bees is because 98% of the time they are just peaceful little workers. On the second day I was shown how to make their products look professional. This can be done by labeling and packaging them. They have to do this with their hands because they don't have machines to do it for them. I learned that it is important to make your product look professional so people actually want to buy it. The third day of working was about the same but with some jarring and putting lids on jars but I still enjoyed working with them because they really opened up themselves to me and throughout the day they told me stories about themselves and I told them about myself and my life to them. It was more of a informational day where I really got to know them better and to know that they are not just business. Something new that we did no the third day was making wax candles. Of course I did many of the other things I did in the past days but it was fun to do something new. Once we started the candle making it lasted all day and I believe even continued when I had to leave. Something weird and cool I found out is that their candles are actually edible, sure a little waxy but still edible! At the end of the week I went to the farmers market to check out their stand and just the overall culture of the place. It was casual with some friendly competition between Hawai'i Bee Company and their honey and another honey stand. During the week I found that the Gormicks are a hard working family but still find time to take it easy, we even took time to go to the beach one morning.
Precious Memories!
First day awkward selfie with the Gormicks!
Pre Intership Anticipation Reflection
I am going to do my LINK Internship in Captain Cook, Hawaii, the Big Island. I will be interning at Hawaii Bee Company, a family owned and operated bee farm. What they do at the business is build and paint hives and beehive frames, jar and label honey, make candles and skincare products, work with the bee hives, extract honey, and deliver honey to stores around the island. These are the things I will be doing as well. My mentors will be Autumn and Tim Gormick, they are the owners of the company. I hope that through this experience they will teach me some of the things of how to run a business. My goals for my LINK internship are to gain a better understanding of running a business and try to find what I enjoy doing, whether it be working at a bee farm or not. What I am going to do for my project for LINK I am not sure. There are many of ideas butnot one in particular that stands out. I could simply make a poster with pictures and information but that would not be something new. Probably something bee related. To prepare myself more for what I am doing for my internship I could research more about bees. How they function and what a bee-keeper might do so that if/when I do care for the bees I am not completely unaware of what needs to be done or at least I might know why what needs to be done.
Throughout this process of setting up my internship I didn't really run into many problems. The planning for my internship actually started a year before it would actually happen. The mentors said yes and the plans were made. When I think about March and that I will be in Hawaii for three weeks interning I feel a sense of excitement. I cannot wait to go there and work for these people! Sure, I am a little bit nervous but it is a good "nervous". The kind that you get when you are about to go on an awesome roller coaster ride. I am ecstatic to meet my mentors in person and I am anticipating a great, new experience!
Throughout this process of setting up my internship I didn't really run into many problems. The planning for my internship actually started a year before it would actually happen. The mentors said yes and the plans were made. When I think about March and that I will be in Hawaii for three weeks interning I feel a sense of excitement. I cannot wait to go there and work for these people! Sure, I am a little bit nervous but it is a good "nervous". The kind that you get when you are about to go on an awesome roller coaster ride. I am ecstatic to meet my mentors in person and I am anticipating a great, new experience!