“What’re we going to do with this smoker?”
“Well, let’s put it to use.”
Dr. Kelvin Moore, a professor of biblical studies here at Union University, lets nothing go to waste, even if it means taking up a new hobby. When his son and daughter-in-law won a smoker at a field day they attended about six years ago, Moore wasn’t about to let it become a simple story of a useless prize. Determined to use the apiarist’s tool, he drove about an hour north of his home and bought his first beehive. Here began the journey to becoming an apiarist. More importantly, a story of connection and fellowship began.
What started as a way to use a free smoker soon became a blessing for the Moore family. Every year, his family gathers together to harvest honey from the multiplying hives. Moore and his family currently own six (soon to be seven) hives. Even with everyone pitching in, collecting the honey is an all-day task. After harvesting almost five gallons this year, Moore and his family gave much of it away. He enjoys being able to bless his friends and family with a yearly gift of home-harvested honey.
“We do like honey, but what I enjoy more than anything else is giving it away…I’ve never sold any of it,” Moore said.
According to Cameron Woodard, a senior communications major, Moore also uses this hobby as a way to connect with students, not just family. Woodard’s dad has always wanted to keep bees, so Woodard jumped at the opportunity to check out Moore’s beehives last semester. He drove 45 minutes to the Moore residence to suit up and see some bees, and that’s when things clicked for the two bee lovers.
“Sometimes, it takes a shared hobby or interest to bring the student and professor together in a way the classroom can’t. For me and brother Kelvin, it was the bees. We cracked open a few hives, and the rest was history. Friendship sometimes starts with something new and something shared, and bees were that for Dr. Moore and I,” Woodard said.
Woodard described Moore’s home as a place to escape, to connect more deeply with the professor. It’s a place to get away from the busy lifestyles of students and professors, to relax and simply enjoy the presence of friends. Woodard isn’t alone in this sentiment. When Moore is in the bee yard or his woodworking shop, he is in his space and away from the stress of everyday life.
“I have a cell phone, and I answer the cell phone unless I’m in the shop or on the bee yard…there are very few people who are going to call and I’m going to answer,” Moore said. “It’s medicinal for me…if it gets to be stressful, I don’t do that anymore.”
Moore enjoys his peace in the bee yard and shop, but he still welcomes others into it. Just as he loves sharing the honey they harvest every year, he loves sharing his skills and peace with others. In addition to connecting to students like Woodard over a shared interest in bees, Moore has used his woodworking skills to bless his family and students.
When this busy bee isn’t checking for mites in his hive, he might be found in his woodshop. Growing up, he and his brother helped their father, who was a carpenter, with projects. Then, as Moore’s son grew older, he passed on the trade to him. In recent years, Moore has given students and friends homemade cutting boards as small gifts.
If you’ve had Moore as a professor, you know he loves his job. In addition to enjoying the tangible blessings Moore can give people via his hobbies and the conversations he can start with them, he enjoys passing on his knowledge and passions in and out of the classroom.
“In many places today, these skills are being lost,” Moore said.
Moore recognizes the importance of sentimental objects and hobbies. As mentioned before, he doesn’t do this for money; he doesn’t even do it to impress people. He does these things to have times of tranquility and to share with others, to deepen the connections he’s made at home and work. All year, he manages the bee yard in preparation for the harvest day spent with his family. One of his favorite things about woodworking seems to be doing projects with and for friends and family. Even when he isn’t giving away a project or showing his beehives to a student, he is serving us by replenishing himself so he has more to offer when he can fellowship with his beloved students.
“It does give me yet another connection that I can make with students, something else that we can dialog outside the old testament and outside Union University. In that regard, I’ve enjoyed that too,” Moore said.
Photo By Maddie Steele
