Meditative Story How the bees saved me, by Dr. Marla Spivak
Apr 14, 2026
Dr. Marla Spivak, MacArthur-winning entomologist who breeds hygienic honeybees, tells a first-person story of illness, healing, and beekeeping. She recounts being saved in Peru, discovering apiculture in college, and building a scientific mission to protect bees. The conversation moves through trauma, community care, and a meditation on our interdependence with the natural world.
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How Bees Chose Her Path
- Marla Spivak discovered beekeeping as a life path after reading Bees Ways and apprenticing on Rio Grande apiaries as a college student.
- She describes standing in a sky thick with millions of bees, hearing a comforting hum that made her feel like an atom in a vast, self-organized universe.
Aikido Restored Her Bodymind For Bees
- After a sexual assault and personal low, Marla found safety and recovery living with a beekeeping family in Arcata while learning Aikido and beekeeping techniques.
- She links Aikido's calm, flowing coordination to beekeeping practices that require smooth movements and present awareness to avoid getting stung.
Presence Is The Beekeeper's Tool
- Beekeeping demands present-moment attention because colony smells, rhythms, and seasonal cues communicate hive health and behavior.
- Marla emphasizes that absent-mindedness leads to stings; smooth, aware movement harmonizes you with the colony's energy.
