Tiktok is a video-sharing social networking platform, like Youtube but different. It has been in the headlines a lot in the past year or so, and has become a hub for influencers, entertainers and people hoping to gain a short blast of fame.
All the more reason it’s incredible that one of the hottest Tiktok accounts that has exploded in popularity recently belongs to a beekeeper and is all about bees.
Meet Erika Thompson, 34, beekeeper in Austin, Texas. Her account operates under the handle ‘texasbeeworks’ on Tiktok and she currently has 3.8 million followers and 51 million likes. She is masterful at making high-impact 1-minute videos that impart a ton of info in a condensed and enjoyable way.
Here is the video that went super viral concerning the bee rescue mission:
@texasbeeworks Save the bees! #bees #tiktok #foryou #fyp #nature #love #animals #amazing
♬ original sound - Erika Thompson
Her recent viral video has received over 57 million views at this time. It shows her at a property where she removed a large beehive beneath the floor of a shed. She didn’t wear beekeeping protective gear. In fact, she scooped up the honeybees in her hands and poured them into the hive that she had brought for them to make their new home.
In the voiceover, she explained that she was called in to Save The Bees at that property. The landlord was going to call an exterminator, but the resident wanted to spare the bees and called Erika, who was able to remove the hive gently and without harming the bees.
There are probably many reasons this video went viral. People who have little or no contact with bees get crystal-clear insight into the world of bees and the life of a beekeeper. And many people who fear bees can see these sweet, docile little insects being scooped up in Erika's bare hands, which may help change the perspective of some people (for the better) about bees.
The post generated nearly 204,000 comments so far, and one comment alone got over 600,000 likes. The viewers are all amazed at the bravery of this beekeeper and they discuss their own fears of bees.
Here is another of Erika's recent 1-minute Tiktok videos of a bee that nearly froze to death and how she revived her:
@texasbeeworks How honeybees survive the cold #bees #beekeeper #natureismetal #learnontiktok
♬ original sound - Erika Thompson
Who is this fearless bee lover? Erika Thompson is a native of Austin, Texas. She is the founder and CEO of Texas Beeworks, the beekeeping company she founded in 2014. Her initial involvement with bees began after she took a class in 2011 and this led to her first backyard hive. She now offers such services as beekeeping classes and live bee removals and maintains hives all across the state of Texas.
Tiktok seems to be the prefect platform for her targeted, educational, inspirational Bee-Love messages to the world.