(dramatic music) (dramatic music continues) - Welcome to "A Shot of Ag."

I'm your host, Rob Sharkey.

What does it take to create food?

Well, and a lot of times it takes a bee.

Just like the song says: I'm a bee, I'm a bee, I'm a bumble, bumble... You've all heard it, right?

I don't have to sing the whole thing.

Anyway, today we've got Rachel Coventry.

How are you doing, Rachel?

- Great.

- You're from Champaign?

- That's right.

- You are a beekeeper.

- That's right.

- But also, you are owner, part owner of Curtis Orchard.

- Mm-hmm.

- Okay.

If you're in Champaign, like, how far outside are you?

- Oh, we are right off of Interstate 57.

- Okay.

- We're like a quarter mile from there.

Curtis Road exit.

- Easy to get to, huh?

- Yeah.

Very easy.

- Okay.

And you grew up there?

- I did, yeah.

Grew up with four siblings and my grandparents right next door.

And we all worked on the farm.

And I decided to return to the farm.

- Well, who started the orchard?

- My grandpa and my grandma.

- Okay.

- So my mom's parents.

So that's where the Curtis name comes from.

- Gotcha.

They just decided to... - Yeah, he was actually teaching full-time at Parkland, and my grandma was a teacher at a high school.

And he always, always loved apples, and thought, you know, I've got this 80-acre farm, don't really know what I should do with it.

It's not really supporting us.

And had this born-again moment and was, you know, thinking I should help people understand where their food is grown.

And so finally, after a few years of mulling it over, he got up the courage to plant the first apple trees.

He put like 700 apple trees in.

And then the following year thought, oh, that doesn't look like much, and put a few more hundred in.

They're just little twigs in the ground at that stage, but then there was a drought that happened.

My grandmother watered all those trees by hand.

- Oh my gosh.

Really?

- Yes.

Yes.

And she's very proud of the fact she only lost three apple trees.

- Out of 700?

- Yes.

Or more at that time, yes.

Kind of incredible.

- That's ridiculous.

- Because my grandpa was teaching, so it was not like he could go out there and help her as much.

- She must have been just like loving everyone.

- She's a a rock star (laughs).

She's a rock star.

She's a hardworking lady.

- So we planted like I think 18,000 trees on a government thing.

And in three years, 50% of 'em have to be alive.

- Oh, how did you lose?

- We didn't make.

- No?

What kind of tree?

- Well, it's a hardwood and then a pine.

So we did say like a black walnut or oak or whatever, and then a pine.

The pines did better, which is, I don't know, ironic.

- Did you water, irrigate?

- No.

- No.

- Why would I?

No, it rains.

(Rachel laughs) - Well, that's probably why.

- Well, honestly, what killed most of 'em is a deer.

- Oh, sure.

Deer are terrible.

And rabbits too.

They'll eat the bark around the tree, and that will kill the tree, apple tree.

Apple tree is the same way, so we have to be vigilant about protecting the bark.

We put wraps around the trees to help keep that from happening.

- Rabbits.

- Yeah.

To help.

(Rachel laughs) - So you grew up on the orchard.

I mean, were you little Rachel running around helping or were you just in the way?

- No, I remember hoeing the pumpkin patch.

That was probably one of my least favorite jobs (chuckles).

I was always promised every year that at some point I wouldn't have to hoe this pumpkin patch anymore.

And then we finally, a couple of years ago, got this nice implement that you can pull behind, and it goes around each plant.

I'm like, man, where was that when I was a kid?

- Yeah.

But they like vine out and everything, right?

- They do.

You do it when they're small.

Once they grow and fill the space, you don't really do any maintenance like that anymore.

- Gotcha.

- No more hoeing.

- So if somebody's never been to Curtis Orchard and they show up, what are they gonna see?

- Well, we're open July through December.

So definitely come then to get the most.

- That helps, huh?

- Yes.

Well, people show up on a beautiful day, and they'll come buy some honey or cider, which is fine, but you don't get to experience all the things that are there.

- Oh, so you have like a shop that's open year-round?

- Yeah.

Yes and no.

We are always getting ready for the next season, right?

So we're there almost all the time getting things prepared.

So it doesn't look like ready for everyone to shop, but you can still see what's going on.

- We'll, your cash, basically.

- That's right.

(both laughing) But we're, you know, planting flowers in this year, which is something new, which I'm really excited about.

- Now, are they to pick or are they for Instagram?

- Well, it depends on who is coming out there, right?

I prefer to pick them, but a lot of people are out there for the pictures, for sure.

But I plan 'em for the pollinators, right?

Like, that's my goal: pick 'em and give the pollinators something to come out there.

- You're giving to the bees.

- That's right.

Bees and the butterflies, moths.

You know, there's lots of pollinators.

- I know, but we talk bees 'cause they give us something, right?

- Well, yeah, but so do the butterflies.

You need everything to pollinate so you can have the fruit.

- Okay, as long as we don't help the ladybug, Asian beetles.

- Correct.

We want the good ladybugs.

- I despise (indistinct).

- Yeah, they smell bad.

- I don't know how they get in your house.

- They're everywhere.

- They find a way.

- you know, stink bugs, I've had so many stink bugs in my house this year.

- Oh really?

- Yes.

All over my house.

Not the Asian bugs.

- Must be a Champaign thing.

- Must be.

(Rob laughs) - Okay.

So you got flowers.

- Yep.

- What else do you sell?

- Apple picking, pumpkin picking, bakery.

Everyone loves the donuts, the pies, the homemade pumpkin bars with the cream cheese frosting.

Like, those are the best.

- So I hate to even say this: Is it kind of like your standard Midwest orchard?

- I mean, every orchard has something different, right?

Everyone puts their own spin on it.

Some people have lots of different flavors of donuts.

Other people have lots of pies.

Or maybe they don't do donuts and they focus more on the fruit and the cider.

Really, every place is different.

We do have some activities besides the farm aspect, you know, the food produce side?

- Like jousting?

- No, like air cannons.

So you shoot tennis balls at different targets.

We do have the corn maize, and we have a giant jumping pillow and giant slide.

So some of those types of things.

- You need like the potato guns, except you have apples.

- They're kind of like that.

Well, we don't like to shoot the apples because it draws lots of bees and other things, so as they rot, right?

So the tennis balls you can pick up again, and you don't have to worry about that.

But they have quite a bit of pressure behind them, and they just (fist thuds) slam into the wall.

- So you're back at the orchard now?

Is that what the plan was always?

- It was always kind of in the back of my mind.

Like, I think this is what I'd want to do.

But I wanted to make sure to step away first to kind of evaluate before I just went straight there from college, you know.

- Okay, Peace Corps, that's for like hippies, right?

- (chuckles) Well, I mean, depends on your perspective, I suppose.

- I mean, why did you want to do that?

- Well, I thought it would give me the opportunity to travel and to use my passion for agriculture.

So I thought, you know what, what the heck?

Why not try and get in, right?

Because it's kind of a lengthy process you have to put- - Is it really?

- It is.

At least when I, I don't know, it's changed probably some.

But yeah, it takes many months of putting in all this information and get medical checks, dental checks.

Like, you have to be healthy to go into the Peace Corps.

And you had to have a college degree, at least at that time, and get letters of references and everything.

So it took a lot of steps, but I thought, you know what, let's just try it.

- Where'd you go to college?

- U of I.

- Oh.

(bell rings) I'm amazed that we went this far into conversation without you mentioning any of that.

- (chuckles) Well, you didn't ask.

- Generally, U of I people tell you within the first 30 seconds.

- Well, yes, it's in my backyard.

So it was a convenient option, but also it's a really good ag school.

So it just made sense.

- What was your major?

- Ag business.

- Gotcha.

Okay.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- How did you meet your husband?

- On a blind date.

- On a blind date?

- Yes, I was getting ready to go to Paraguay, you know, in a couple of months.

- With the Peace Corps?

- Yeah, with the Peace Corps.

So I was just, you know, enjoying my summer working and just doing whatever I kind of wanted to.

And a friend said, "Do you want to go on this blind date?"

I was like, "Sure, why not?

Got nothing to lose."

So we went on a blind date.

- Nice.

Love at first sight?

- Well, you just kind of know something's there, right?

You're like, maybe there's more to this person than I've met before.

- But you go on the state, and then you're leaving the country.

- Basically.

He was too, though.

He was a Marine and he had been deployed.

And so he actually left before me for training in California.

So he left for California, then I went to Paraguay, and then he went to Afghanistan.

- [Rob] Oh!

- So yeah (laughs).

But it was really nice to have someone just to mail letters to, you know?

He had to mail letters to me.

It took like a month to get them, but it was a great way to communicate.

He's kind of naturally a more reserved, quieter person.

And I always say, you know, that was the best thing, because you can't send a blank letter.

Can't just hang out.

- Handwritten letters?

- Yes, handwritten letters.

- Whew!

- We didn't have internet in our sights really at that time.

And our phones were all just old-school phones.

So there was no texting, 'cause he's out in the middle of the desert.

So yeah, so letters were the best form of communication.

We could send emails occasionally too, but it would take a while for anything to get through.

- Were you falling in love over pen pals.

Okay.

- Definitely.

- And then when you both got back, you just- - He proposed at that point.

Yeah.

- Okay, usually the way it goes.

- Yeah, and then I had to go back.

So I came to visit him when he came home.

- Well, you just keep leaving him.

- Yeah.

And then I left again.

(Rob chuckles) But then we, you know, got married when I got back.

So he joined the orchard after he graduated.

He still had some college left to do.

- And four kids now?

- Yes.

Now we have four kids.

- Okay.

Three girls and a boy.

- That's right.

- Nice.

And the boy's the youngest.

- Yep.

- Whew!

- He is well loved (laughs).

Too much.

He's like, "Get away!"

- Smothered is gonna be the word.

- Yes, yes.

He'll start screaming.

He's like, "Get away from me!"

- So you said, when you went to Paraguay, is that where you first kind of fell in love with a bee, honey?

- So I always loved bees.

We always had them at the orchard, and I would just kind of watch them.

Because I knew if I didn't disturb them, they weren't likely to sting me.

So I was always fascinated.

But I actually never opened a hive until I got to Paraguay, if you can believe it.

- You guys had hives, though?

- We did, but my grandfather wasn't managing 'em at that time.

We had another beekeeper who was taking care of them.

So it was never really like presented to me, as like do you want to go beekeeping?

And then when I got down there, they said, "If you want to learn beekeeping, sign up."

And so their test though was they forced you to be stung.

They take a bee and they would put it on your arm, because they said it would test if you were allergic.

Well, you can become allergic at any time.

But it was so painful.

My whole arm swelled up too.

Because they let the bee, like, they left the stinger in as long as it needed to be.

So it would get like- - Oh my gosh.

- It was horrible (laughs).

But it's okay.

I've been stung hundreds of times.

I'm not allergic.

- But if you swole up, why did they let you go ahead?

- Well, you will have some reaction, but you not an anaphylaxis.

- You know what my reaction would be (slaps).

- (laughs) Yeah.

Well, they took it, and so the stinger- - But once he stings you, the bee's dead, right?

- It's true.

It's true.

'Cause it pulls out the stinger from the body.

- So you murdered a bee.

- Basically.

(Rob laughs) I didn't.

- You were part of it.

- But I've been stung so many times at this point, so I'm not allergic, which is good.

- Yeah.

What is this?

- This is honeycomb.

So we won a huge contest in 2017.

There's an organization called the Center for Honeybee Research.

And they're studying all the effects of Varroa mites on bees.

And they decided to start a contest, and it's open worldwide.

So I submitted my honey, just, you know, not thinking I would actually win, and I won the contest.

- Oh really?

- So this is kind of my tribute to winning, is showing this.

- So like worldwide?

- Yes.

Yes, worldwide.

- Wow.

- I know.

It's a big deal.

- So is it anything you do or is it just the bees?

- It's the bees.

It's the flavor.

You know, it goes through several rounds of judging, and it has to win each round of judging to go forward.

And so it's different judges every time.

There's like five judges, blind taste-testing.

That's the cool thing, is a blind taste test.

- It makes it hard to bribe people to win, yeah.

- Thank goodness.

(both laughing) But it's fun, you can go to the final event in June in Asheville, North Carolina.

And they have a People's Choice, so all the top winners.

Everyone at the event gets to also be part of the judging.

- So why is your honey so honey-rific?

- Just, you know, it has a good flavor.

It's real kind of- Is it what they're- - Mm -hmm, what they're foraging.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

Yeah, and the nectar.

The pollen is kind of part of it.

So they harvest, the bees are going after nectar and pollen.

The pollen gets put on the back of their legs, whereas the nectar, they suck up into their body and they put it in their honey stomach.

And then they take it back to the hive, and they'll give it to the other bees.

And then they'll suck it back into their stomach, and they'll put it in each little cell.

And then they fan their wings to make it into honey.

Less water content.

That's why honey doesn't spoil.

- I knew that.

Of course I knew that.

Everybody knows that.

But for the people that don't know.

- Yeah, 18% water content.

That's why it doesn't spoil.

- Honey.

- Mm-hmm, honey.

- And it never goes bad.

- Never goes bed.

- Okay.

What do you have?

- And then I just brought creamed honey, because I think this is fun.

It's a process.

You have to take creamed honey and put it in with other honey, and then keep it cold, and then it will force it to crystallize.

- Can I open it?

- Yeah.

Force it to crystallize like this.

My kids make it with me.

- Oh.

Oh.

- But it's just honey.

There's nothing else.

- Well, why is it white like that?

- Well, that's the creamed part.

So it's forced crystallization, the fine granulars.

- [Rob] Oh, Here you go.

- Because all honey crystallizes, right?

You've had honey sitting out on your counter before, and you're like, it's so rock hard, because it's crystallized to bigger crystals.

This is really, really fine crystals.

- You forced it.

You're always imposing your will on the bees, aren't you?

- No, this is honey.

This has nothing to do with bees.

- Overlord.

(Rachel laughs) Where's it come from?

- Well, the bees aren't affected by me crystallizing it.

- [Rob] Have you asked them?

- It's already been harvested.

- All right.

- They wouldn't want it back, really.

They have enough.

♪ I'm a bee, I'm a bee Who's up?

Who's gonna try it?

- Oh, I'm gonna try it?

- Yeah.

- I've already tried it, so I know it's good.

Because it's nice, it doesn't drip like regular honey does, right?

- Oh, that's a big one.

- See, 'cause normal honey would just like pour off your spoon.

- Let him have his moment (laughs).

- I use honey every day.

This is good.

- Yeah, thank you.

But it's been forced- - To crystallize.

- Yeah.

- You could eat that right out of the jar all day.

- All right, go ahead and have yours.

There, don't double-dip.

But you can double-dip with that one.

- You don't want to try it?

- Oh, I'm gonna try it.

Yeah.

- That's clean.

- I got you, man.

- Oh, he's stealing the jar.

This way, no one else will try it after him (laughs).

- That's your jar.

See, it's very smooth.

- It is now.

- I'll give you my spoon.

- Mmm.

- It's not too light.

- He's like, after that, no thanks.

- This is good.

Carb-free, right?

- Oh, yeah.

No, this is what the bees eat for their carb: honey.

And the pollen is the protein.

- Why is that so good compared to honey?

- Well, it's just honey.

- I know, but no, it's better.

- You like it better?

- Yeah.

- I think it's the texture.

- Is that what it is?

- Mm-hmm.

- Yeah.

That is fantastic.

- It's thicker.

But it's not so thick that you can't like scoop it out.

It's not gritty.

- It says World's Best.

- Yeah.

- And you can officially put that.

- Yeah.

- Okay.

That is awesome.

- Thanks.

- How do you not like just eat that every day?

- Oh, trust me.

We eat a lot of honey, my kids especially.

- Do they get sick of it?

- No.

- Really?

- Yeah.

They love it.

- Okay, so now that you are competing, what do you call yourself when you have like a champion honey?

Like a honeyist?

- I don't knower.

- Honeyer?

- Never thought about that one.

- How could you not thought about it?

- I'm just the beekeeper.

- So did you take over the hives?

- Mm-hmm.

Yep.

My grandfather and I were working 'em for a while when I got back in 2011.

And then I've taken over since then.

And I train lots of other people that come out, and I'll help apprentice, look at the hives, check 'em out.

I take my kids too.

- You're all like, I don't want to say the word cult, but you're kind of like a cult.

The bee people.

- The bee cult.

- Yeah, it's like when you get together, it's like U of I grads, you just can't wait to tell people that you're raising bees.

- Well, I find bees very fascinating, for sure.

Yeah, there's so much more I could even know.

I study them as much as I can, but I always see something new every year.

- Okay.

I've asked this question to several people and I've got different answers.

Because you hear there's more bees now than there ever was.

- Yeah, I've read that.

- And then you hear that there is less honeybees now than ever.

What's the answer?

- Probably somewhere in between.

There's more hobby beekeepers than there ever used to be, But I think a lot of the hobby beekeepers get in and out of it.

So there's maybe not hard evidence.

Like, I fill out USDA surveys every year about my bees.

But I think some people who have one or two hives, they're not necessarily tracking those people, 'cause they may not even know they have 'em.

And there's still losses every year, colony losses.

But you get some good beekeepers who have figured out how to really get their bees through the winter.

And a lot of my friends and I have, so there's good news on that front.

- [Rob] Gotta give 'em a little sugar?

- Yeah, a lot of times you'll feed, but more about wrapping 'em and keeping the moisture from not building up in the hive.

'Cause when they're warm like that and it's cold outside, the moisture will drip down on the bees.

And that can be devastating for the hive.

- From what I've gathered from interviewing beekeepers is maybe there is more bees now, but the wild bees.

- Yes.

I think that's not a good thing either.

That's one reason why we are trying to plant more flowers, to encourage the native pollinators.

And we see that when we go out and look in our orchard during the bloom.

We actually see more native pollinators than we do honeybees.

- Like what?

- The blue orchard mason bee is what I see a lot of.

Lots of little native bees, because they will fly when the weather conditions aren't as good.

Honeybees like a 50-degree, sunny, not too windy day.

And then they're out buzzing the flowers.

- Kind of picky.

- Yes.

Yes.

Whereas the others will fly when It's a little cloudy, maybe a little rainy, a little colder.

They're solitary, so, you know, they're harder to track too.

Because it's not like I can go to a hive and be like: Oh, here's all these native bees.

- How are you tracking monarchs?

Are you like tranquilizing 'em, putting a little- - No.

So what we do, we work with an organization, they have these little tiny stickers, and when you capture a monarch, you put the little sticker on its wing.

And then when it flies to Mexico, they pay the locals about $5, is what I'm told, to find butterflies with the tags on them.

And then they input that data, right?

So we import our data.

We say: Okay, I found a male butterfly on this day, and it was wild-caught, right?

I don't usually raise any.

My daughters and I help catch them and then put the stickers on 'em.

And you have to do it after a certain point, because there's several generations that are raised here.

And then the final generation is the one that migrates to Mexico.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

It's really cool.

- My problem, if I caught a monarch, I would kill it.

- No, you have to hold it really gently.

- The net, somehow I would kill it with a net.

- Well, I can train you.

- Okay.

(both laughing) That's what I need.

- My kids are actually better at catching 'em than I am.

- So your flowers, are you putting in like the pollinator plots too and all that?

- We have some of that, but mostly we let our clover grow in our fields, our parking lots.

And we're also planting zinnias and sunflowers, cosmos, all kinds of small fruits as well.

So anything.

- We did a 10-acre pollinator plot on one of our farms.

And I remember, when I was planting it, and in the mix was milkweed seeds.

And my dad has passed it, but it was probably a good thing, 'cause I think he would've not understood.

- Oh, we let our milkweed grow.

We find it and we, even my dad, he protects it.

- Well if you ever want to find, like, what do they call it, the chrysalis or whatever?

They're on the milkweeds, so they must like 'em.

- Yes, that's the only thing they eat.

And that's what makes them poisonous.

Because the milkweed is poisonous.

- [Rob] That's the only thing they eat?

- Yep.

That's why it's so important to have the milkweed.

- But here my dad spent his entire career killing milkweed (laughs).

- I think back then we didn't know necessarily how vital it was.

- Okay, do you think it's something to worry about, you know, the population of the pollinators in this world of ours?

- Yeah.

Anything, right?

We want to protect all the insects.

We need the insects.

Even the mosquitoes, because they're food for bats and birds.

And same with all the butterflies.

They're also food for other insects and animals.

- I actually, when you said mosquitoes, I stopped listening to you.

- I don't like mosquitoes.

No, not at all.

But I see that there's a reason for it, the moths and stuff too.

You see less out at night, flying around.

You used to see tons of moths flying around the lights.

I think we see less of that.

- Well, the moths?

Yeah, I suppose.

- Butterflies don't fly at night.

- They don't?

- Nope.

- Well, you're just like a wealth of knowledge, aren't you?

- (chuckles) I just find it interesting.

- When I was a kid, the used to have the huge moth- - Yeah, cecropia.

- Yes.

And now if you see one, you'll like take a picture of it.

Same thing with the luna.

- Yes.

I know, I hardly see those.

I love the luna moths.

They don't eat.

Did you know that?

Once they're an adult, they have no mouth parts.

- Of course I knew that.

- They don't.

- Everything you've said I've known today.

(both laughing) Yeah, with the bats, I mean, we used to go, when I was a kid, to the yard light, 'cause there was always moth.

And the bats would be doing it.

And you'd take a piece of tinfoil and you roll it up in a ball, and you throw it up and the bat just drops.

- Oh, 'cause they'll fly after it.

- I don't know.

It screwed up their radar.

- Oh, what?

- I don't know.

They just dropped to the ground.

And then they get up and they look at you because they're blind, and then they take off again.

Yeah.

It's what we did.

- I've not done that one (chuckles).

- Well, are you able to teach people, I hear you have this platform of an orchard, are you able to teach people about, you know, what you're doing with pollination and that?

- Yeah, for sure.

We have some videos that I have recorded on our website.

And people who want to learn about beekeeping, I will also take 'em out to the hives, and we'll look inside the bees and look at the bees and learn about it over a season.

It's really good to, if you want to learn beekeeping, to apprentice and to go multiple times, right?

Because you see different things depending on the season.

And your maintenance or the things that you're gonna do to the hive is different depending on the year, the time of year.

- Real quick, if people want to find Curtis Orchard, where would they go?

- Do you want our address or do you want our website?

- Website.

- curtisorchard.com.

Yeah, we're on social media too: Facebook, Instagram.

- TikTok.

- I don't think we're on TikTok.

- Well, if you're gonna be out there like manipulating bees and creaming their honey and all that stuff, you need to be on TikTok.

- Yeah, I should.

I need my kids to do it for me, right?

- Well, that's probably a good idea.

Rachel, there's a whole lot of stuff we didn't get to.

Fascinating story.

- Thank you.

- I love when people are passionate about agriculture.

And your story of, you know, always wanting to come back to the orchard.

But I think it's great that you got away.

And obviously, when you did, you found a new passion and a new love.

So I want to thank you for not just being on the show, but for everything you do for ag.

You're a great representative.

And yeah, we need people to spread the word about how agriculture and nature can coexist.

All right, Rachel, thank you very much.

- Thanks.

- Everybody else, we'll catch you next time.

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