Humans of Sweet Water...Meet Thad Smith
Humans of Sweet Water… Meet Thad Smith. Thad is a “Beecopreneuer” that found out about Sweet Water Foundation through Janelle Dunlap, a SWF Human-in-Residence and beekeeper. She invited him to stop by SWF to provide guidance with the beehives at The Commonwealth and has been coming ever since. Thad became a SWF Human-in-Residence in Summer 2020, continuing to care for the SWF hives, providing training SWF team members and apprentices, developing native bee hives to enhance the urban ecology at The Commonwealth, and enhancing the weekly market with local honey. Read on to learn more about Thad.
Can you tell us about your background?
My name is Thad Smith. I own a company called Westside Bee Boyz. I am a beekeeper, but think of myself more as a Beecopreneuer.
I was born and raised in Chicago. I’ve lived in every part of the city. I like to be in front of a crowd and talk about bees. I could talk for hours about bees. 10 years ago, I couldn't care less about a honey bee or any type of bee. Today, I consider myself a bee champion.
About 10 years ago, I became homeless. I was in the military, so being on the streets wasn’t as daunting as I thought it was going to be. The thing is, usually I have a plan...and I had no plan - none whatsoever. For, the next few years, my whole goal in life was to know what I was going to eat and where I was going to sleep. I started selling papers for some quick cash. I was making $20 a day - that was the only money I had every day.
When you're homeless, you are prey. The underserved are prey for predators. After a couple years of being homeless, I didn't care how I made money. So I started moving checks. Long story short, I got caught and was convicted of two felonies. After I got out, I was a 47 year old black man with two felonies living in the city of Chicago. There is no doubt that this is a daunting mountain to overcome.
I ended up at an organization called North Lawndale Employment Network on the West side of Chicago. Basically, I learned how to be interviewed. When you have a daunting mountain to overcome like I did, you have to know how to explain what you did and then be able to move forward. NLEP is connected to an organization called Sweet Beginnings which sells honey and honey products and teaches folks about beekeeping. During my first week there, I went to O’Hare Airport, which has the largest airport apiary. They opened up one of the hives and that was it! I knew I wanted to become a beekeeper. Sweet Beginnings gave me a bunch of information to read and I took in as much information as I possibly could. For a year and a half, I was an “Apprentice Beekeeper” under John Hansen, who was a beekeeper until he was 81 years old.
After a couple years working at Sweet Beginnings, I was still living in a shelter and knew I needed to make more money in order to move forward with my life. I started Westside Bee Boyz - a beekeeping supply company. We started off managing apiaries for other people. We would put them on top of rooftops for corporations. We also sold our honey at local farmers markets. I really love the work that I do.
What is the difference between honey bees and native bees?
Over the years, I've come to understand that I was a bad beekeeper because all I cared about was honey bees. I wasn’t necessarily a bad beekeeper, I was a misinformed beekeeper. I've learned that native bees are just as important as honey bees. Honey bees are not really good pollinators, they are good pollen collectors, and they make delicious honey. However, honey bees are not from here. I like to call them colonizers because they take resources from the native bee population. It reminds me of the world as it is today. If you look at nature, it is perfect. When we try to change nature everything else around it also changes. What we fail to realize as human beings, even if we try to manipulate nature, nature is still going to do whatever it wants to do.
There are maybe five or six species of honey bees and over 20,000 species of native bees on this planet. There are 800 species of bees in Illinois alone. There is a lack of care for the native bee species. The native bee population has been declining over the years. Some species have even gone extinct. The only reason humans take care of honey bees is because of honey - and, ultimately, that’s to make money!
Don’t get me wrong - I still like my honey bees. There is nothing wrong with them, but a place like Sweet Water Foundation is an oasis for all things that fly. It is a place that nurtures life.
I am now on a mission to support native bee populations. Like I said, SWF provides an oasis for the native bee population, which is, in turn, taking care of the humans in the neighborhood.
How did you find Sweet Water Foundation?
I found out about Sweet Water Foundation through Janelle Dunlap, a SWF Human-in-Residence and beekeeper. We met during a CBD Honey presentation and she told me about SWF. A little over a year ago, Janelle reached out to me and asked for some help with the beehives at SWF. I stopped by to help, and I’ve been coming by ever since!
What is your role at Sweet Water Foundation?
Emmanuel has graciously allowed me to become a Human-in-Residence here at Sweet Water Foundation. I think of the purpose of my residency in a few ways. First, I am here to help maintain the honey bee hives and to support the habitat of native bees.
Second, I am a mentor for SWF apprentices to teach them about beekeeping and how beekeeping is a career pathway, a way to make money, and a way to provide for yourself and your family.
Last, I want to create a pollination map of The Community Farm. A pollination map would show what has been pollinated throughout the entire growing season and what insects and animals pollinate those plants. It’s a huge project to undertake, but it would be an awesome resource to have.
What is your impression of Sweet Water Foundation?
Until recently, I hadn’t been on the SWF Community Farm. I had been in the house and outside the house and over in the bee area, but never on the farm. The other day, I finally got a chance to walk the farm with Tra’Vonne Wright, a SWF Apprentice. He showed me everything that was planted on the farm. It was absolutely phenomenal and I was truly impressed that all of this was created from nothing - absolutely nothing. Every time I come here, there is something different and something new that was created out of nothing. There is always something being created here.
What does it mean to be a Beecopreneuer?
Being a Beecopreneuer means I am thinking about what revenue can be generated from beekeeping. The obvious things are honey and wax, but you can also think about the woodworking it takes to actually create hives and the farming/gardening skills needed to grow flowers and other plants for bees to pollinate. More than just being a Beecopreneuer, a place like Sweet Water provides a whole system for artists, individuals with talents, and beekeepers to be connected. I've had the opportunity to truly be involved in the inner workings of this place, and it's been fantastic.
If you could describe Sweet Water in one word, what would it be?
Oasis
