DURHAM, N.C. — On the last warm day of the year, beekeeper Starling Krentz checked on his bees one final time before saying goodbye until the spring.

Bees naturally keep inside the hive through winter months to survive and can keep their hive at a sustainable temperature through cold months. But, Krentz still has concerns of the bees' survival during the winter.

“I worry about them eating all the food and starving,” he said.

On a wooded plot of land in Durham, Krentz started Orbital Bees with just a few hives.

“We started off as hobbyists with two then four, then, eight, then 10,” he said.

He quickly grew his hives to the roughly 50 he has today.

“My colonies are pretty small, because as soon as they get big enough, I split them up to make a new beehive,” Krentz said.

His operation is more of a numbers game, rather than about making honey. But he has gone viral on TikTok for his beekeeping videos on how he breeds queen bees.

“We didn’t really have much time to think about it because it all happened so fast,” Krentz said of his TikTok videos that have amassed millions of views.

“TikTok really likes bees; they're very supportive of the beekeeping community,” he added.

Krentz first got into beekeeping in graduate school where he realized there was an abundance of support and funding for bee research.

“I had no idea what I was doing. They gave me 50 beehives just like this as a newbie and were just kind of like figure it out,” Krentz said. “You got thrown into the deep end of the pool, but it worked!”

By day he is still a researcher for Duke University studying a different kind of colony.

“I work with mice colonies at work so there is some crossover with beekeeping. Not a ton, but more so than other areas of science. I think beekeeping helped get that job,” Krentz added.

He said he has considered making beekeeping a full-time gig, especially after he gained viral notoriety.

One of his most popular videos describes how to spot real honey from fake honey, often sold at large grocery stores.

But for now he plans to stick with his research, and looks forward to greeting his bees next year.