I came across this shop while searching for one of my childhood favorites: Honey Sticks! We lived in a neighborhood in which one of the houses was occupied with a beekeeper. We called him, The Beeman. Every Halloween growing up we looked forward to going to The Beeman's house for Trick-or-Treat as he always gave us delicious Honey Sticks! YUM!
Our next spotlight is on a female beekeeper named Leeann and her etsy shop called Lee's Bees! Her shop is filled with products made organically from her very own beehives! You can't get any more local than that! Her products include lip balm, lotion bars, honey soap, table honey and my favorite: Honey Sticks! Drop by her shop and grab some great gifts and stocking stuffers!
We talked with Leeann and here's what she had to say:
What do you love about honey?
LEEANN:
Honey is nature's perfect food. It contains every element necessary to sustain human life. That's a good reason to love it, but wait, there's more! Honey has antimicrobial and antifungal properties. It contains probiotics, enzymes, amino acids. It never spoils. It is easily digestible. It is good for your skin. What's not to love about a substance like that? And it is, of course, delicious.
How much honey do your hives produce in a week?
LEEANN:
One colony's production of honey will vary depending upon the time of year and the weather. Right now, there is no honey being made in the hives. The bees are inside all clumped together, keeping their queen warm and waiting for spring. They are eating their honey stores very slowly to stay alive. It's a different story in the spring, though. When the trees are in full bloom - especially the black locust trees - when the sun is shining and the days are long, a colony of bees can bring in as much as 30 lbs. of nectar in one week! Over the course of a year, one beehive will produce between 25-60 lbs. of honey, with the average here in New Jersey being around 40. I've had hives produce 100 lbs. of honey in a good year, but that's the exception and not the rule. It all depends upon the weather.
What makes your shop different from other shops on etsy selling honey/honey products?
LEEANN:
The thing that sets me apart from many other shops on Etsy is that I'm a real beekeeper. I don't just have a couple of hives, I have farm full of them. I'm working hard to make beekeeping and farming a full-time occupation. And I do it all organically. There are no chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, any-cides used in my hives or on my property! I treat my hives with plants, essential oils and other natural products. Additionally, many of the shops making beauty products are really resellers who add a little fragrance to a premade base and call it their own. I worked hard to make the formulas I use to create really outstanding products from simple and natural ingredients. I'm so good at it, in fact, that I wrote the book - literally - on how to make things from beeswax and honey. Boston, MA-based Adams Media published my book, "Honey Crafting," this past spring!
How did you get your start on etsy.com?
LEEANN:
Sometimes life never takes a straight path. A Google search in 2008 brought me to an Etsy shop page for the first time. I saw opportunity, and began selling my handmade jewelry in a now-closed shop named Silverloft. Once I started beekeeping, though, jewelry making took a back seat when I learned how to collect beeswax and make lip balm. I love lip balm. It is everyone's friend. That discovery started me on my journey. Since I knew what a great, well-supported selling tool Etsy was, and had already gone through the learning curve, I opened the LeesBeesNJ shop and now I have all kinds of beauty products for sale, along with my raw wildflower honey and infused honeys. Lee's Bees products have been shipped to every state in the union except Idaho, and to 22 countries. I am looking forward to making new products and spreading the honey-bee love even further across the globe!
And maybe even to Idaho.
Be sure to stop by Leeann's shop and pick up some honey sticks, lip balm and honey soap for stocking stuffers! She does honey wedding favors/party favors too! YUM-O!
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