Judge V’s Bees make sweet honey in the Tre

Former federal judge Vanessa Gilmore, affectionately known as Judge V, could easily star in one of those old Dos Equis “Most Interesting [Person] in the World” commercials. 

Seriously, what hasn’t this amazing Black woman done?

The Hampton University alumna has been an author of four books, a voice-over artist, an entrepreneur, a fashion buyer for a major department store, a parent, an art enthusiast, a sought-after speaker, and a practicing attorney.

Oh, and she’s also a legend in the legal world.

After 13 years at Houston law firm Vickery, Kilbride, Gilmore & Vickery, Gilmore became the first African American appointed to the Texas Department of Commerce Policy Board, selected by then-Gov. Ann Richards. She specialized in civil litigation. 

Then, in 1994, another history-making moment came when President Bill Clinton appointed Gilmore to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. At the time, she was the youngest sitting federal judge in the country at 37 years old.

And now?

She’s a beekeeper and also practices law as a member of the Roberts Markland law firm.

“Not even a chance. Not even a chance,” Gilmore said when asked whether she ever imagined as a child that she would one day tend bees.

Welcome to the Hive

Gilmore’s latest adventure is Judge V’s Bees, an apiary located at Riverside Farms Garden and Nursery in Houston’s Third Ward/Riverside area.

Technically, Gilmore is still a rookie.

“This is actually my first season as a beekeeper,” she said, explaining that she had previously helped friends harvest honey but only recently had the opportunity to establish her own hives.

That opportunity came through Riverside Farms, where Chef Dominick Lee (Chef Dom), head chef of The Augustine at The Riverside, decided to incorporate bees into the farm.

For Gilmore, it made perfect sense.

“The pollination and the pollinators help with the health of the plants and vegetables that are growing here on the farm,” she said. “So, it’s been a very good synergistic relationship.”

In other words, the bees work the farm, the farm feeds the bees, and eventually somebody gets honey.

A bee-utiful partnership

Gilmore isn’t doing this alone. Ariel Bounds, an Apiary Studies student at Winding Creek Apiary, regularly assists with Judge V’s Bees. Their partnership began with a chance encounter that sounds almost too perfect.

“I saw the judge one day, and I pulled my truck over, and I said, ‘I’m looking to be someone’s apprentice,’” Bounds recalled.

Gilmore’s response?

“Well, I can’t help you, but you can help me,” Bounds recalled Gilmore saying. “Go get you a suit, and let me know when you get it.”

“I got the suit, and I’ve been out here since May,” Bounds said.

Bounds’ journey into beekeeping is intentional. After researching industries associated with longevity, she found that beekeeping caught her attention.

“I said, ‘Okay, by the time I’m 40, I want to be fully immersed in beekeeping,’” Bounds said. “I’m about 14 months out from my 40th birthday, and here I am.”

For Bounds, there is something deeper happening in the hive.

“I also feel like it’s my life’s purpose to take my lineage back to the land,” shared Bounds.

“I like to see my bees, and we keep a bee cam on them so I can see them all the time. I look at them every day.”

Judge Vanessa Gilmore

Sweet, quiet workers

If you’re picturing a swarm of angry bees waiting for the opportunity to launch an aerial assault, Judge V’s Bees apparently didn’t get that memo.

“They’re very docile,” Gilmore said. “You see how quiet they are?”

Bounds agreed, sharing, “We have very sweet bees. I don’t play music. They are the music.”

Still, nobody is opening a hive without precautions.

“But we’re still going to smoke them,” Gilmore said.

That sounds more sinister than it is. The smoke helps calm the bees by interfering with their ability to communicate through pheromones.

Honey takes patience

Getting that sweet payoff requires more than opening a hive and grabbing a jar. Beekeeping follows the seasons.

“You buy your bees in December. You pick them up in April,” Gilmore explained. 

The bees are placed into their hives as the growing season begins, giving them access to blooming plants and pollen. In Houston, the season generally runs from April through October.

And even when the bees are busy, Gilmore keeps watch.

“I like to see my bees, and we keep a bee cam on them so I can see them all the time,” she said. “I look at them every day.”

That camera helped the team discover the bees were getting too hot and spending too much time outside the hive.

“They were getting so hot, and they were bearding all of the time,” Gilmore said.

Bearding is when bees cluster outside the hive. And if they’re hanging outside, Gilmore noted, “they’re not inside the hive making honey.”

Houston heat: Apparently, even bees aren’t immune.

Honey has standards

Before any honey gets harvested, somebody has to inspect the product. Gilmore explained that bees cap honey with wax when its moisture level is low enough. If the honey contains more than 17% water, it needs more time.

“We’ll leave this in here for them to keep working on getting the moisture out of it,” Gilmore said.

Judge V’s Bees produces raw honey, meaning it hasn’t been pasteurized through heating. The vast majority of that honey makes its way into the kitchen at The Augustine. That means the farm-to-table concept at Riverside Farms has officially entered its sweet era.

More than honey

There’s plenty of education happening alongside the harvesting. Gilmore presents beekeeping information to students about once a month and keeps demonstration materials available to help young people understand how bees live, reproduce, and produce honey.

“This is our story about beekeeping that we try to have up so that young people can look at it and understand a little bit about how bees get into hives and how they make larvae and how we harvest honey from the frames,” she said.

Bounds, meanwhile, is thinking much bigger than one season. After starting bee school last January, Bounds plans to devote years to apiary studies.

“This is going to be, at least for the next 10 years, my life’s work,” said Bounds. “I really want to take my time and understand them.”

For someone who sees life through an artist’s eyes, that patience matters.

“As an artist, I want to be gentle with them,” Bounds said.

And Judge V?

After a lifetime of making history in courtrooms, boardrooms, and community spaces, she seems perfectly content spending some of her time in a bee suit.

Asked what is most rewarding about the whole experience, Gilmore didn’t overthink it.

“Getting some honey,” she said, laughing.

Sometimes, even the most interesting people in the world just want something sweet.