[ti:Husband, Wife Beekeepers Start Business During Pandemic] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:01.60]James Cook and his wife Samantha Jones [00:04.96]started their beekeeping work eight years ago. [00:10.20]"You have to be a little crazy," Cook said. [00:13.60]He and Jones knew the problems their bees face. [00:18.72]These include harmful organisms called parasites [00:24.16]and insect-killing farm chemicals. [00:28.56]Even so, they were hopeful. [00:31.84]The year 2020 was to be their year to go into business on their own [00:38.68]after working several years for another beekeeper. [00:45.40]Cook, Jones and their bees [00:48.20]spent the past winter in California's huge almond farms. [00:54.56]In the spring, the farms, or orchards, [00:58.44]are full of white flowers that turn into nuts. [01:04.68]The crop is possible because of the many beekeepers [01:09.04]who travel with their hives to pollinate the nation's crops. [01:15.68]Then the coronavirus health crisis hit. [01:20.64]Cook and Jones became concerned. [01:24.40]"Do we stay? Do we go?" they asked each other. [01:30.12]By that time, they had taken their hives [01:33.96]from California's San Joaquin Valley to another temporary home. [01:41.44]Their plan was to let the bees recover from the agricultural work [01:46.72]and their contact with farm chemicals. [01:52.24]There, they raised "nucs." [01:55.28]These are groups of bees with new queens [01:59.76]that can be used to start a new hive. [02:04.08]The couple sells them to other beekeepers [02:07.92]to replace bees that are lost over a season. [02:14.00]Selling nucs and almond pollination [02:17.96]represent about two-thirds of their business. [02:23.32]The other one-third is honey-making. [02:27.16]They make honey during the summer [02:30.00]at their permanent base -- a farm in Wisconsin. [02:36.36]Agricultural workers are considered essential. [02:41.24]Beekeeping generally does not require Jones and Cook [02:45.84]to be near other people. [02:48.76]So, they decided to wait out the coronavirus restrictions in California. [02:57.40]Then they returned with their bees back to Iola, Wisconsin. [03:05.52]There, they set out to create their brand, Bird and the Bees Honey. [03:13.20]The bird is their parrot, which often rides in their truck. [03:18.80]The parrot also happens to like honey. [03:23.96]This summer, Cook and Jones and their small crew [03:28.36]worked day and night to build a honey factory out of old truck trailers. [03:34.92]They were extremely tired and in debt [03:38.92]because they took loans to get the business up and running. [03:44.04]But they were also excited. [03:46.88]The 38-year-old Jones [03:50.72]noted how much of the honey available in stores [03:54.92]is mixed and cooked. [03:58.04]"And I thought that people deserved good honey," she said. [04:04.40]Unlike other agricultural crops, [04:07.60]honey also can be stored for a long time. [04:11.80]That is a good thing for Cook and Jones, [04:16.08]because coronavirus restrictions [04:19.60]have left them with fewer places to sell their products. [04:25.04]Farmers markets' have been limited. [04:28.20]So have restaurants and breweries. [04:31.96]Such businesses also buy and use honey. [04:38.76]Cook, who is 35, said the experience [04:43.24]of starting a business in these difficult times [04:47.16]will make them more resilient. [04:51.00]"I think beekeeping sort of taught me... [04:54.80]you kind of need to look for the optimism [04:58.20]and the beauty that you can find," he says. [05:03.92]I'm Mario Ritter, Jr. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM