Jeff Lee spent decades working as a high-tempo investigative journalist before trading his career for a completely different path. Approaching 60, facing redundancy and burnout, he and his wife Amanda relocated 300 miles east to rural British Columbia to establish a bee farm.
Discovering Beekeeping
Lee’s interest in beekeeping began in his late 50s when his wife participated in a “beard of bees” event at a Vancouver science exhibition. She wore thousands of bees calmly on her neck, prompting the stallholder to suggest she take up beekeeping. Lee already owned a small collection of books on the insects because the concept of homesteading and an independent life away from the rat-race always appealed to him. The couple enrolled in a beekeeping course and placed two hives in their back yard.
Working as an investigative reporter at the Vancouver Sun since he was 21, Lee operated at an exceptionally intense tempo, arriving at the office early and rushing through daily deadlines. When he first handled the bees, he approached them with the same frantic energy, resulting in frequent stings. As reported by The Guardian, Lee explained that he quickly learned he had to change his approach. “I learned you have to slow down. Work with the bees. Listen to the bees. By the end of the weekend, I was much calmer. My writing was better. I was a better human being,” he stated.
Career Transition and New Beginnings
While initially keeping bees as a hobby, corporate takeovers and subsequent cuts at his newspaper’s parent company prompted Lee to reevaluate his life. Finding himself merely marking time, which he considered a very poor way to live, he spent about six months requesting redundancy.
Lee had originally entered journalism by chance after failing his first year at the University of British Columbia and working at a lumber mill, where a conveyor accident sidelined him for six months. He later worked in bars and began writing freelance stories for the Hope Standard newspaper before being hired full-time. Now 69 and a decade past taking redundancy, Lee noted that instead of traveling the world, he chose an entirely new direction for his life and work without any plans to slow down.
After purchasing their farm, Lee and Amanda suffered heavy losses, wiping out nearly all their bees in the first two years before slowly rebuilding. Today, they manage 800 hives and have earned awards at two major honey shows in the United States. Rejecting the concept of retirement, Lee expressed that living a good life means doing what you love and enjoying it until it is done.
