Pursuing Her Passion
“People look at you and say, ‘Well she looks fine.’”
But Rayann Wilcox, a beekeeper from Hastings, Michigan says that she isn’t always fine since a 2020 diagnosis of degeneration tendons and hip dysplasia. The diagnosis led her down a long trail of surgeries in hopes of retaining the mobility and strength she has while trying to rebuild and correct the skeletal challenges. Skipping the surgery risked losing all ability to walk in a matter of a few years.
Rayann is working to build her hive numbers to the level where bees provide her full-time income, and the goal was well within reach at the time of her diagnosis. She processes and sells her honey through farmers markets, shows and stocks a couple of stores. She shares some labor with a relative who helps her move bees to Georgia almond groves for their winter home.
Beekeeping, like all agriculture, is a continual process of materials handling. Rayann moves hives between fields which are spread out over several miles, moves boxes to processing at the farm, moves raw honey into a separator, bottles honey, carries crates of retail ready honey to markets and events, then packs up what hasn’t sold and moves it home until the next event.
Deep hives can weigh up to 100 lbs. and a beekeeper lifts and twists repeatedly when moving heavy hives to a new location or back to the farm. Each hive is picked up, then placed and stacked on a truck. When tendons and joints deteriorate untreated, the heavy lifting of beekeeping that provided her living would eventually grind to a halt.
Ned Stoller evaluated Rayann’s worksite and critical tasks, creating a plan that allows her to move hives using mechanical assistance to replace some of the brute force needed to physically lift one hundred pounds multiple times daily throughout the honey season.
Through Michigan’s vocational rehabilitation services, Stoller helped Rayann secure a set of equipment that will keep her business and livelihood on track. A commercial enclosed trailer to deliver product to markets, a power hive lifter to move hives, stock carts and a pallet lift to move honey during processing, a ladder attachment for climbing onto the truck, a material lift dolly, trailer ramps, and a cargo carrier for moving power lifts from one location to another are pieces of the puzzle implemented in stages that keep Rayann driving her dream forward.
Surgeries may have slowed the pace of her business building endeavors, but the vision has not changed even if getting there takes a little longer.
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