H.I.V.E. Newsletter #3, April 2026

Nat Walstead
Apr 1
4 min read

Welcome, welcome, welcome!

Nat here, founder of the HIVE.

Gosh, I am just so honored that you are reading this little snippet about what we've been up to over here in Apis Mellifera, our (currently) first and only HIVE group. As with any new idea, dream or start up, there fear of the dream losing steam after all the initial excitement is a real tangible one.

I should know, I'm always coming up with 'my next big life plan', or my 'next billion dollar business idea' and can't even begin to tell you how many of them now sit in metaphorical corners of my mind collecting dust. The HIVE? The opposite. This project is gaining steam and members, not losing momentum. I'm feeling so proud, honored and happy to see people continuously showing up for each other. It's truly inspiring. And with out further ado, here's the buzz:

Last month had some brilliant, buzzworthy breakthroughs:

Having her friends submit her act for potential work, unlocked and inspired Charlee. She went from being unable to click send on any casting email to submitting to every single one she came across, no matter what.
Seeing Charlee overcome her fears inspired Nat to submit her novel to more literary agents.
Working on Charlee's website helped unblock Nat, which lead to Nat landing more work as a logo, website and app developer, stay tuned for more exciting launches!
Lucas, our favorite vibe coder, has really out done himself. He's been coding and creating custom software solutions for friends, family and businesses alike, and now has permanent clients and recurring revenue, along with his very own iOS app now testing (let me know if you want to try it out!) which will be available in the app store soon.

Queen Bee for April:

Isabelle Star

This month's focus is on Izzy's Creative Cockpit Cultivation!

She has a 2 bedroom apartment and wants the help of the HIVE to make one room into a frictionless space for creating.

How?

She made an inventory lists with her Chat GPT and walk through videos, which were sent to Nat, who made them it into easily accessible spreadsheets and a Trello board. Izzy was also able to upload all of her Pinterest boards and mood boards for the rest of the group to see her vision.

After that, it was all hands on deck! Sara has gone over several times to help plan, organize and sort. Ems sent some links to help Izzy sell. Ollie and Charlee come with muscles and power tools to start the physical build out, hanging curtains and such.

Most up to date information, from the Queen herself: If everything got wiped except the essentials, the ONLY things that matter right now are:

1. Curtains installed

2. Desk wall system + camera/lighting equipment storage installed—

3. Mirrors + vanity functional

4. Lighting system decided (not installed yet) + chord mess + lighting optimized

Everything else is:

→ phase 2

→ or decorative

More information to follow on the phases and tasks!

Lot's of HIVE Happenings have been a happenin'!

March 14: Nat's Family in Town
March 18: Brenda Perform in Taste Show at Paymons
March 21: Izzy's Birthday
March 23: Charlee's Cirque Audition
March 27: Nat and Lucas Engagement Party!

May Queen Bee

Lucas Whelan

We're not quite sure what the focus will be, but if it has anything to do with this guy, we know it'll be fantastic! There's a pretty solid chance it'll involve Claude Code on some level, so take your focus pills, grab your lap top, and come ready to learn some new skills with this handsome hunk!

We have some action packed adventures coming up, so let's make sure we plan accordingly!

April 1st: Q2 dues are due if you're paying quarterly. $25 to Cashapp $HIVElv

April 1st-15th: Nat, Lucas, Nic &Michael will be in Japan!

April 21st: April Meeting, details in Member only portion ;)* Nic will be in town the following week, is there an option/interest to move it to when she's here in person?

Lucas decided to propose to Nat in Las Vegas surrounded by friends and family. He was able to pull this off with the incredible ninja Nic skills! She rallied the troups and had a spreadsheet in no time! It was one of those 'it takes a village' moments and was so cool to see each person's personal touch at that incredible, momentus occasion. The catering from Paymon's was delicious (as always) but there was an excess. Ever conscious of waste, especialy food waste, Sara boxed up the left overs to pass out amongst the currently unhoused in our local community.
We're going to start a monthly donation! Throughout the month, feel free to pile anything you don't need or want any more, and bring it to our monthly meetings. At that meeting, everyone will have a chance to go through the pile and keep or sell whatever items they want.

If you're not part of our Apis Mellifera group but would like to be involved in the monthly donations, please feel free to email us and we'll find a way to include you.

Whatever doesn't find a new home will be donated to a charity of our choosing.

Everyone:

Stay in touch! We'd love to hear from you.
Thank you for being here, let us know if you're interested in joining when the time is right for you!

Members of Apis Mellifera:

Our HIVE is growing! Please fill out an intro so new members can start to get to know everyone.
Izzy's build out is in full swing, don't forget to sign up for a task or time slot!
General meeting reminders:
- Bring a snack and a smile
- Bring your donations
- Try to get there a few minutes early so meetings can start on time.