{"id":3128,"date":"2018-01-02T13:25:57","date_gmt":"2018-01-02T18:25:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/naplesbees.com\/staging\/?page_id=3128"},"modified":"2026-10-12T09:06:21","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T13:06:21","slug":"skydive","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/naplesbees.com\/staging\/skydive\/","title":{"rendered":"Skydive"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nNo bees at 10,000 feet…..
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About this Beekeeper<\/h1>\n

The story behind NapleBees…..<\/strong>.<\/em>From Vietnam War to Apiary<\/p>\n

My generation’s war
\n<\/strong>Working to put myself through undergraduate and graduate colleges, within weeks of earning my master’s degree in electrical engineering (MSEE),\u00a0 my draft lottery<\/a> number (36) put me on the fast track call up for US Army service during the Vietnam War era.\u00a0 Years later, I returned to Naples, Florida, and went to work as an electronics engineer for a local company.\u00a0 That led to eventually going in to my own electronic related businesses.<\/span>
\nThrough it all, before, during, and after my Army service, I kept jumping. I became a USPA-certified skydiving instructor (D-4466), a licensed Senior Rigger, and a private pilot and an aircraft\u00a0 owner.<\/span><\/p>\n

Skydiving
\n<\/strong>With nearly 2,000 jumps logged, I spent many days as an instructor teaching first-jump courses. The photo above was taken high over Immokalee Airport in Florida.\u00a0 One of those first-jump students became the love of my life for the rest of my days.\u00a0 She is the lady in the photoshopped American Gothic<\/a> portrait on the NapleBees honey bottle label.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Bees Arrive
\n<\/strong>In early 2014 the beekeeping addiction began when a single hive took up residence in my Naples backyard.\u00a0 That is the very spot where my apiary of 20-plus hives now stands.<\/span><\/p>\n

Random Destiny
\n<\/strong>When I think about it, the Vietnam era “random destiny” of a winning lottery number sent me on some of life’s most trying adventures. That event was the proverbial “fork in the road” change in my life long before beekeeping.\u00a0 \u00a0But it also\u00a0 led, eventually, to a quietly satisfying hobby: of a multiple hive apiary right in my Naples home backyard.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Flag day jumping from UH-1H and Loach Helicopters\u2026. That young U.S. Army SP4<\/span><\/a> on the right and a future beekeeper is somewhere near the restricted airspace surrounding the U.S. Army Aberdeen Proving Grounds. That flag above, which long ago flew in Vietnam and, although a little tattered now, is shown below and is proudly displayed at the home of the NaplesBees apiary. Click on the pictures for larger views.
\n\"\"<\/a>The Random Destiny of the Vietnam War Draft Lottery<\/a><\/span><\/strong> set this future beekeeper on a life changing course as it did for many. The below book<\/a><\/span> best describes some of the stories of an arbitrary luck of the draw in this nation’s last military draft that ultimately affected many young men and their futures ….some results that were for the bad ….but also a few results that were for the good.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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