A Beeline from Parish to Convent

by Hall Gibson, friend, local Episcopalian, and owner of an organic farm and CSA near Brewster, NY

(Note: The following was written for the newsletter of St. James’ Parish in North Salem, NY, at the time of Eva Jaunzems’ entry as a postulant of CSM in October. Eva cam to us from an editorial position at Readers Digest’s Book Division and has considerable skills in scholarship and writing.

Having interest and background in the textile arts, Eva urged Hall unsuccessfully for years to add fiber goats to the livestock kept at Ryder Farm and is very interested in our expansion of the goat project in this direction. This winter she has experimented with some old discarded wool from his farm, teaching herself to wash, card and spin the wool. Eva has kept bees for decades and specializes in producing a dark, rich buckwheat honey which is quite delicious. We welcome her to our community)

Most of Eva Jaunzems’ journey toward holy orders has been a long and searching route. In one respect though, she has taken a “beeline” from our Downstate parish to an exotic Upstate have called the “Spiritual Life Center” (SLC), near Greenwich, NY. Let me explain.

For the past several years Eva has been the beekeeper for Ryder Farm, she tended up to seven hives. Following her commitment to join the Community of St Mary (then in Peekskill), Eva and I decided to transfer the Ryder Farm hive to her future residence at the SLC, if no successor beekeeper could be found. No new beekeeper has been found, hence Eva's "beeline" to the SLC.

But there is more. Back in the spring, Eva decided to make beekeeping one of her "on the ground" services to the Community of St. mary, regardless of the fate of the Ryder Farm hives. This led to a rainy Sunday journey in late June, in my pickup truck, from Ryder Farm to western New Hampshire, where Eva, Bessie (her devoted—now orphaned—pooch) and I picked up 100,000 bees in three hives. We then drove westward across the Green Mountains of Vermont and on to Greenwich, located in the Hudson Valley about 20 miles east of Saratoga Springs. Pausing briefly for a late lunch, we placed the three new hives in the SLC, downhill from the future convent site. Then we returned through more rain to Ryder Farm, thus completing the first “beeline” segment of Eva’s journey.

As summer progressed, both colonies of bees were busy making homey. Before Eva left for Greenwich in September, to offer herself as a candidate nun, we extracted scores of pints of honey from the Ryder Farm colony. Shortly after arriving in Greenwich, Eva sent back an urgent call for more “super,” the tray-filled boxes—placed atop existing hives—where bees deposit their honey in their wax honeycomb. A few days later my Toyota and I conveyed the requisite supers from Ryder Farm to the SLC. There I enjoyed tea with the Sisters on the veranda of the elaborate Manor House before racing back south. Second segment done.

Now, all of Eva’s “beeline” that remains is another pickup truck journey from Ryder Farm to the SLC, probably in November (with the Ryder Farm hives). Let us pray that this transforming journey, like the rest of her journey, will provide the sweet smell of success.

And yes, honey anyone?