By day, Daniel M. Perez spends his time navigating the demands of the justice system as Sussex County’s new prosecutor. Outside the courtroom, he's more likely to be found in a bee suit tending hives than behind a desk. What began as a suggestion from his wife to help pollinate their garden has grown into a passion spanning more than a decade. Along the way, Perez has become a beekeeping instructor – educating first graders as "Beekeeper Dan" – and discovered an unexpected connection between practicing law and caring for honeybees. In this conversation, he discusses how beekeeping became a lifelong hobby, what it has taught him about patience and learning and why spending time in the apiary remains the perfect antidote to the pressures of practicing law.
What first got you interested in beekeeping, and what has kept you involved over the years?
My wife is a gardener. When we moved to Sussex County, she planted a garden and said to me one day, "You know, there really aren't many honeybees pollinating around here. Why don't you find out how to become a beekeeper?" So I took a beekeeping course offered by the Sussex County Beekeepers Association and I fell in love with it. It's a fascinating world. It's so different from sitting behind a computer screen or standing in a courtroom. Being outside in a bee suit – or even just a T-shirt and shorts – watching your bees is incredibly peaceful and calming. After I'd been keeping bees for a few years, I became an instructor for the same organization. I've been teaching honeybee biology and behavior for more than 10 years now. I’d also visit the first-grade classes at Frankford Township School as "Beekeeper Dan," wearing my bee suit and talking to students about honeybees, pollination and the effects of pesticides on the environment.
Describe for the layperson how the beekeeping and honey harvesting process works.
Beekeepers are also called apiarists, and the place where we keep our bees is called an apiary. Depending on how much backyard space you have, you could have anywhere from one to several hundred or even thousands of hives. The hives are the actual boxes the bees live in. Typically, a hive starts with two boxes, and then we add additional boxes on top for the honey we harvest. Those are called honey supers. We'll usually put the honey supers on in May, the bees will fill them with honey, and then we'll take them off in late June or July. Inside each super are 10 frames of honey. The bees cap the honey with wax, so we first have to remove those caps. We basically take a hot knife and cut through the wax cappings, then put the frames into a spinner, which uses centrifugal force to spin the honey out of the honeycomb. After that, we put the empty frames back into the box, put the box back on the hive, and hope the bees give us another honey crop in the fall. I've had anywhere from one hive to as many as six. It really depends on how much time I have to devote to it. One of the great things about becoming a beekeeper is that you very quickly become a student of meteorology, biology, ecology and chemistry, because all of those fields play a role in the everyday life of a beekeeper. If there's a lot of rain in the spring, you'll have more flowers and, potentially, a stronger honey flow. If it's cold through late March and early April, it takes the bees longer to get going in the spring, so you'll have a later harvest. And if someone is spraying pesticides nearby – especially if there are farms in the area – that can have a significant impact on your bees. There are so many different factors you have to understand, and over time you become conversant in all of them. That's part of what makes beekeeping so fascinating.
How much honey do you typically collect?
Anywhere between 50 and 100 pounds of honey. I'm a hobbyist, so that's actually a fairly modest amount. There are beekeepers who harvest hundreds of pounds of honey every year. New Jersey also has professional beekeepers who make their living at it. In addition to harvesting honey, many provide pollination services. You've probably seen flatbed trucks carrying beehives from one farm to another. They'll place the hives in a blueberry field, for example, so the bees can pollinate the crop. Once that bloom is finished, they'll load the hives back onto the trucks and move them to the next location that's ready for pollination.
As for our honey, we eat some of it, but it's far more than our family could ever use. My wife usually puts a post on Facebook letting people know it's available, and it's typically gone within a day or two.
Beyond the honey, what has beekeeping given you personally?
The greatest benefit to being a beekeeper is that you always have something to talk about because everybody has questions about honeybees. Everyone seems to have a story about them, too. People are fascinated by bees, and for good reason. They've been around for millions of years and they'll likely be here long after we're gone. One of the greatest joys for me as a parent was bringing all three of my children into the apiary on a regular basis. They helped me inspect the hives, extract the honey and treat the colonies for mites, which are tiny parasites that feed on developing honeybees. It was a wonderful way for us to step away from the television, phones and laptops, get out into nature and spend time together as a family. From an environmental standpoint, honeybees play an incredibly important role. Roughly one out of every three bites of food we eat depends, at least in part, on pollinators. Crops like watermelons, cantaloupes, cucumbers and many fruits and vegetables rely on pollination. Honeybees are among the most important agricultural pollinators, so we owe them a tremendous debt. The world – and our food supply – would look very different without them.
Do you find that beekeeping provides a mental reset from the pressures of your job?
Always. Whenever I'm stressed or restless, I'll go out to my apiary. I'll bring a folding chair, sit down next to my hives and just watch the bees come and go. I don't even suit up for it because you really don't need to. Honeybees are generally very gentle. They'll land on me, realize I'm not a flower, and then go on their merry way. It's incredibly meditative to sit there and watch them. Seeing them fly in with nectar and knowing they're turning it into honey is fascinating. It's about as far removed from sitting behind a computer or being in a courtroom as you can get. It’s funny, we have a saltwater pool and we’re always fishing bees out with the pool net or gently scooping them up with our hands. Even that's a peaceful experience. You can hold a tired bee in your hand while it dries itself off, fans its wings, and then, a couple of minutes later, flies away. They're truly one of the most fascinating creatures I've ever encountered. Of course, I’ve been stung many times. I lost count during my first year. That's really the only downside of beekeeping – you are going to get stung. It doesn't matter how careful you are.
Are there qualities that make someone a good beekeeper – like patience, observation or preparation – that also make someone a good prosecutor?
Absolutely. You have to be patient. You have to be willing to learn, to experiment and to learn from your mistakes. And you have to be willing to ask for help. Even after all these years, I still run into situations where I'll call one of my former mentors and say, "What do you think about this? I'm dealing with something I've never seen before." There's always someone who's been doing it longer than you, and there's always something new to learn.
You also have to enjoy it. The moment it feels like nothing but work, it's no longer fun, and you're probably not going to stick with it. The same is true of practicing law. No matter what area you're in, you're constantly learning. In my field, I might get a DNA case. At the beginning, I may not know much about the science, but a few months later I've immersed myself in it and can speak knowledgeably about DNA testing and the terminology that goes with it. Beekeeping is the same way. One season, you might know very little about mites or how to treat them. By the end of that season, you've learned about different mite treatments, when to use them and how to apply them in your hives. Both professions reward curiosity and a willingness to keep learning.
What advice would you give someone who's interested in becoming a beekeeper?
My advice is always the same: take a course and find a mentor. Nearly every county has a local beekeepers association, and that's the best place to start. Learn the fundamentals before you get your first hive, and connect with experienced beekeepers who can guide you. It's very difficult to be successful without a mentor because you're going to run into challenges as a new beekeeper. Having someone you can call with questions or ask to look at your hives makes all the difference. In that sense, beekeeping is a lot like practicing law. You're much more likely to succeed if you have a good mentor who's willing to share their knowledge and help you along the way.