As I'm coming up on the one year anniversary of
incorporating Curio Spice Company, I've been reflecting on one of the questions
I've been asked a lot: "how did you get into this?" Sometimes I
answer with a story about a poem I wrote in college about the saffron crocus (an
esoteric beginning to a spice business), other times about farming. But a recent study of bees and bee pollen
made me realize this simple fact: I like to collect tasty things and bring them
home to share.
There are other species besides humans and honeybees who collect.
Male bowerbirds build elaborate nests and collect piles of objects of similar
colors to attract their mate. Leaf cutter ants have entire societies built
around the duties of cutting and collecting leaves for the ant colony. Collecting
behavior ranges from the need for food storage to attracting mates to well, in
my case, collecting spices because they make me feel alive.
