DANCES WITH BEES

As a child, the Ensenada-born José Antonio Aguirre Castorena dreamt of becoming a high-performance athlete, but somehow, he came upon folk dance, which he practiced for 25 years. Little did he know that that discipline would make him a better beekeeper.

His encounter with bees was serendipitous. He was invited along with his father, a school principal, by one of the teachers to an apiary. “My dad loved it, and for me, it was a way of spending time with him.

At first, they only practiced apiculture, not rescuing. But, as there weren’t many bee specialists in Ensenada, his father persuaded him. “Firemen would remove the beehives but lacked the appropriate equipment and skills. A lot of times, especially when the hive was in a complicated setting, it would end up being destroyed. To avoid this, my dad and I started to help them.”