Worker Bee Team Bio: Keith McCormick

A beehive is made up of worker bees whose jobs are integral to the success of the colony. Here at Betterbee, our many worker bees are also very important to the success of our colony. Just like honey bees, we work many jobs and wear many hats within our hive to ensure all our teams have what they need to succeed. We're thrilled to be able to share a little bit about our teams and their stories with you!

Betterbee's woodenware is manufactured by our partners in Maine, Humble Abodes, then assembled here at Betterbee by a solid, knowledgeable, and skilled team in our woodshop. Although our colonies don't do much throughout the winter here in Upstate New York, Betterbee's worker bees never stop buzzing! Our shop stays busy through the winter by gearing up for spring and making sure that our customers can get ready ahead of time, too. We're thrilled to tell you a bit more about our fearless leader and manager of the Betterbee woodshop, Keith. 

Keith has had many different jobs at Betterbee throughout his 9 years of working here. He started as an entry-level worker, and worked in the warehouse picking and packing orders to be shipped. He then moved on to working in the woodshop, and has learned a lot about bees and building their humble abodes. He then worked his way up to being the shop manager, where he’s lead for the last 4 years. His days are spent building and assembling frames, hive components, and bee vacs, all while planning for the next season’s needs. His favorite activity to work on in the woodshop is having the time to build a jig for a new project or rebuild one that needs improvements. Building anything to make a task easier and more efficient is what Keith likes the most here at Betterbee. 

Check out more of his answers to our questions below! 

Name: Keith McCormick

Role: I've been a shop worker for about 7 years now. I worked as a picker/packer my first year at Betterbee. I started as a grunt and worked my way into a management role. I’ve been leading the charge for 4 years now.

Q: Do you have a favorite quote?

A: “It's in our darkest moments when we must focus to see the light." -Aristotle

Q: What’s your favorite movie/podcast/TV series? 

A: My favorite podcast is the "Joe Rogan Experience"… the days seem to fly by when my ears are filled with these brilliant, comedic, and sometimes controversial conversations.

Q: And your favorite book?

A: "Tools of Titans" by Tim Ferriss

Q: What do you do at Betterbee specifically? 

A: I plan and help with all production in the woodshop. We build frames, hive bodies, outer covers, and most woodenware sold by Betterbee. Currently, I spend most days producing the Colorado Bee Vac with my 2nd in command (Nick Thomas). 

Q: What House in Harry Potter would you be sorted into (take the quiz for yourself here)?:

A: Slytherin, to my surprise.

Q: What do you like about working at Betterbee?

A: I love that Betterbee will teach/train anyone interested in the ways of beekeeping. The more beekeepers, the better off this planet is for raising my children. 

Q: What are the values that drive you?

A: Loyalty, compassion, honesty, kindness, empathy.

Q: What things do you enjoy doing when you aren’t buzzing around Betterbee?

A: When I'm not working I enjoy spending most of my time with my children. If they're not around, you'll find me in my kitchen cooking something or fiddling around on guitar or piano. 

We hope you enjoyed learning about our woodshop’s manager, Keith! Keep your eyes peeled for future bios about our Betterbee worker bees!