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1. Pollinate my orchard and garden. We have some different species of local bees, my neighbor has a few hives, but none of them seem terribly interested in veggies, cut flowers, or fruit trees. I planted herbs (thyme, basil, fennel, marjoram, mint etc.) in between the beds of veggies, I planted blueberries and other bee-friendly berry bushes all around the orchard, the only time I spray is dormant oil in winter on the trees and neem extract in the spring on the roses. I put down beer traps for the slugs, never pesticides, and we have a swimming pool for them to drink out of--I'll put a birdbath out in the garden before I open the pool this year. Failing that, there's a creek about 50 feet from my orchard with running water and little frog pools they can sip from. But my stupid garden, without fail, blooms well enough to produce ten tons of veggies and fruit, and I only ever get, like, three peaches/tree if I don't go around with a paintbrush. It's not a nutrient problem, because when I do go around with a paintbrush, I'm drowning in veggies and fruit. We're still eating winter squash from the vines I hand-pollinated in July.
2. Honey would be nice. We use maple syrup in a lot of things rather than honey, but I like honey--especially goat chevre soaked in honey, smeared on fresh-baked bread. This year wasn't so good for maple syrup; last year I got something like 1/2 gallon per tap after it was boiled down, this year I only got half that, so would be nice to make up the difference in honey, in future bad years. I know I'm not going to get much, if any, this year. I do use a lot of beeswax: candles, firelighters for the wood stove, waxing cheeses, sealing mushroom spawn into tree stumps, cosmetics (mixed with oil for lip balm, mixed with emulsifier & aloe gel for lotion).
Bees are nice critters too, of course. I like them more for what they do than who they are, you know? They are not exactly loyal, cuddly, thoughtful or trainable, but they perform valuable services in a fairly efficient way and don't require a whole lot of attention from me--just food, water, the occasional miticide treatment, for the most part. Best of all, no vet bills!
