Question 1

Alex Tuchman | Director

Accepted Answer

Alex is a beekeeper, educator, farmer, author, and student of nature. As the Director of Spikenard Farm Honeybee Sanctuary, Alex carries a wide variety of responsibilities on the farm, with the bees, in the classroom, and in administration. Alex arrived at Spikenard Farm in March of 2014 after three years as the Farm Manager of Loyola University Chicago’s Student Farm in Woodstock, Illinois, his home-state. Alex is an active contributor to the biodynamic agriculture and natural beekeeping movements and regularly teaches at conferences in the U.S., around the world, and online. Alex’s book, A Lively Hive, was published in 2021, outlining the basic biodynamic beekeeping methods that we practice and teach at Spikenard Farm.

Question 2

Samuel Bell | Farm Manager

Accepted Answer

Born and raised in the Blue Ridge Mountains, it is my greatest pleasure to be a part of this amazing team of talented, earnest and dedicated individuals working to protect and expand the incredible abundance and natural beauty of the Sanctuary.

Question 3

Ines Kinchen | Program Coordinator

Accepted Answer

Bio coming soon!

Question 4

Jody Keating | Swiss Army Knife

Accepted Answer

Jody came to Spikenard with a background in programming and software training. She is an avid gardener, herbalist and basket weaver with an abiding love of nature. After taking classes at Spikenard, she and her husband are joyfully incorporating honeybees on their small farm. Jody carries responsibility for many aspects of running the administration, products, programs, website, and catering for classes.

Question 5

Susan Boothe | Office Assistant

Accepted Answer

Susan came to us with over 30 years of accounting and business management experience having worked in both large and small local businesses. She has also lived and worked on her family farm in Floyd all her life and has a deep appreciation for the land and all the creatures on it. In her role as office assistant, Susan is attending to the important tasks in the office, including the administrative, accounting, and bookkeeping needs of the organization.

Question 6

Savannah Ducote | Sanctuary Caretaker

Accepted Answer

Savannah came from Louisiana to Spikenard first as an apprentice—and she never left! She is now our sanctuary caretaker. Her work here entails holding the daily rhythm of the farm, such as caring for the animals, the orchard and the gardens, as well as beekeeping, cultivating relationships with the apprentices and overarching community, and holding a vision of the landscape. Savannah has a deep love for the bees and the earth, and how they weave into the feminine aspects of nature.

Question 7

Neelima Julia Baird | Stella Natura Coordinator

Accepted Answer

Neelima is a lifelong student who met Spikenard shortly after being called to serve the bees in early 2019. Over the next four years she made several pilgrimages from upstate New York for courses, and in 2023 moved to Floyd after graduating from the SBBT. Her background spans bodywork, teaching/mentoring, advocacy, natural health care, sanskrit studies, editing and authoring on all of the above. She wears many hats at the sanctuary, depending on the needs of the moment, but her official roles include support of the Sanctuary Ambassadors group, the development of a local Hive Host program that grew out of her graduation project, and coordinating the production of the Stella Natura Biodynamic Planting Calendar, which was entrusted to Spikenard by its creator and editor of 46 years, Sherry Wildfeuer.

Question 8

Lee August | Visual Communications Coordinator

Accepted Answer

Lee is a beekeeper, photographer, certified Apprentice Beekeeper through the Virginia State Beekeepers Association, and has a background in non-profit organization management. With five years of experience in stewarding beehives, he started beekeeping in 2020 and immediately fell in love with the art of tending to bees. Having always been a lover of insects from a young age, Lee has his sights on becoming an entomologist and aiding in conservation efforts to protect some of the natural world’s most fascinating creatures.

Question 9

Georgie Donovan | Grant Writer

Accepted Answer

Georgie's work at Spikenard began with volunteer days on the farm in 2012. For the past two years, she has focused on developing resources through gifts and grants for Spikenard's mission to restore health and vitality to bees worldwide. With 20 years as an academic librarian and 5 years of experience in philanthropy, she now wants to connect with all who care for these small but essential creatures. Georgie helps out with the Beekeepers' Q&A each month and loves talking to beginning bee tenders. Her work focuses on biodynamic gardening for bees and other Hymenoptera, monarchs, & hummingbirds.

Question 10

Kris Kiko Cozy | Movement & Music Facilitator

Accepted Answer

Kris has been facilitating groups of all ages in music and movement for over 30 years. She grew up farming in NE Ohio and at 16 began performing professionally as a classical clarinetist. Her passion for using the arts for health, wellness and community building led to work in mental health, the Bosnian war zone and many diverse educational settings. At Spikenard, Kris draws from her diverse background to create music and movement experiences which are incorporated into the workshops, festivals and other community gatherings. She is also passionate about plants and helps tend the gardens.

Question 11

Jeff Kiko Cozy | Movement & Music Facilitator

Accepted Answer

Jeff came to us with a background in caring for people and the land. With degrees in psychology, beekeeping and massage therapy, he has worked as mental health professional, Peace Corps volunteer in beekeeping, farm maintenance worker and 32 years as a massage therapist in private practice. Jeff’s responsibilities at Spikenard include maintenance, repair, groundskeeping, and assisting workshops with music and movement.

Question 12

Kenneth Levy | President

Accepted Answer

Kenneth is an attorney representing consumers and serving on the boards of non-profit organizations. His experience in organizational governance helps guide Spikenard Farm in its mission to improve the health of the honeybee and the human community.

Question 13

Jack Wall | Vice President

Accepted Answer

Jack has worked in the mental health and disabilities support field since 1971. He has a B.S. degree in Business Management from Babson College and a Masters in Education degree from Virginia Tech. He and his wife, Kamala Bauers, started the company Wall Residences in 1995 to provide intensive supports for people with long-term disabilities in professional family homes. Jack and Kamala are highly involved in the Floyd, Virginia business community. They opened Hotel Floyd in 2007 and are developing Floyd Eco Village to demonstrate sustainable land use practices and zero energy building design. They are also involved in nonprofit work in Floyd through the starting of Partnership for Floyd in 2005 and through support of many other nonprofit organizations in the area. Spikenard Farm is a new passion for him due to the importance and meaning of bees to our local and world ecology.

Question 14

Gigi Davidson | Secretary

Accepted Answer

Gigi is a retired veterinary pharmacologist with a special interest in honey bee pharmacology. She is a long time supporter and student of Spikenard Farm HoneyBee Sanctuary having attended all available workshops since 2015. Gigi is a graduate of the Spikenard Sustainable Biodynamic Beekeeping Training and manages her 70 acre farm and honey bee colonies using Biodynamic methods learned at Spikenard. Her vision for her farm is to establish a Honey Bee Sanctuary and Educational Center in Central North Carolina where persons of all ages can encounter honey bees in a healthy landscape, experience the magic of swarms, and cultivate a deep sense of love and personal responsibility for the honey bee through bee-centered land and pollinator stewardship.

Question 15

Patrick Collins | Treasurer

Accepted Answer

Bio coming soon!

Question 16

Monica Burgoon

Accepted Answer

Monica is a clinical nutritionist practicing with her husband, Michael, in Roanoke since 1998. She is an organic gardener and has been growing vegetables and herbs for over 30 years.

Question 17

Michael Burgoon

Accepted Answer

Michael is a doctor of chiropractic practicing in Roanoke, VA since 1998. He is a beekeeper and is currently Vice President of the Blue Ridge Beekeeper’s Club. He has been gardening organically for over 30 years.

Question 18

Alex Tuchman

Accepted Answer

Alex works with the Board and staff to uphold Spikenard’s mission in service of the honeybees. As the Director of Spikenard Farm Honeybee Sanctuary, Alex carries a wide variety of responsibilities on the farm, with the bees, in the classroom, and in administration.

Question 19

Bonnie Huggins

Accepted Answer

Bonnie is a Virginia native, business owner, and fourth generation guardian of a c.1897 family farm located in the Shenandoah Valley. A devoted student, supporter, and Sustainable Biodynamic Beekeeping Training graduate, she folds biodynamic and permaculture principles into her daily life and farm practice, is a philanthropist of the sustainability movement, and embraces educational opportunities throughout North and Central America to further her skills in land stewardship and do-it-yourself living. Bonnie’s interests range from beekeeping, fiber arts, and herbalism to fermentation, gardening, and soil regeneration. Through her work and experiences at Spikenard Farm, she has become an advocate for educating and supporting others in an effort to protect and restore the health and vitality of the honeybee.

Question 20

Gunther Hauk

Accepted Answer

After nearly 20 years as a Waldorf gardening teacher in Germany, Gunther moved to the U.S. in 1996 to co-found the Pfeiffer Center – one of the first biodynamic training programs in the states. His book Toward Saving the Honeybee was first published in 2002. His work with the bees and as the co-Founder of Spikenard Farm was featured in two full-length documentary films about the honeybee crisis – “Queen of the Sun” (2010) and “Vanishing of the Bees” (2009), and he also produced his own educational film “Hour of Decision” (2015). Gunther is fully retired and now lives at Camphill Ghent in upstate New York, where he gardens, keeps bees, and continues to be active in the anthroposophical community.

Question 21

Vivian Struve-Hauk

Accepted Answer

Vivian co-founded Spikenard Farm with Gunther in 2006, and served in a variety of roles, including building up the administration, beekeeping, teaching, and infusing the whole of Spikenard Farm with beauty and order. Born in Chile, Vivian brought strong organizational talent and a broad range of experience as a Waldorf kindergarten teacher, anthroposophical therapist, photographer, gardener, and beekeeper. Vivian passed away in July 2021.

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