Delicious, Botique Texan Honey
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Every spring an eight-year-old Danessa watched with awe and fascination as the Leaf Ligustrum shrub outside her home buzzed with visitors. Butterflies, wasps, hoverflies, but it was the honey (how long does honey last?) bees that always caught Nesâs attention. The curious soul that she was, Nes loved collecting bees in large plastic Coke bottles, customized for the safety of the pollinators. She was allured at how the bees collected pollen from the flowers and stored it on their legs. Getting stung did not deter Nes in her pursuit of observing the bees. The name of this honey farm is inspired by Nes and her love for all things honey, âSweetNes Honey Apiaries and Beetiqueâ.
Fast forward to many years later, Nes, her husband Brent, two adorable boys and a dog called Sketch made Missouri City their home. Working as an office manager in the industrial safety sector, was something she did well, but it wasn't something that she felt deeply connected to. Then one evening it hit her out of nowhere- she wanted to be a beekeeper!
We spoke with the owners of SweetNes Honey Apiaries & Beetique, Nes and Brent about their passion, their journey, and their aspirations. Read on to know, in their own words, this beautiful story!
Now that we know your decision to become a beekeeper was a revelation of sorts, how did you turn it to reality? Surely going from the industrial sector to managing mother natureâs agents wasnât an easy transformation!
Yes! When I did announce my dream to Brent, he looked at me like I had grown a third eye! But I was determined. The first step was to learn everything about bees and beekeeping. I followed beekeepers on social media, collected books and joined all the local bee clubs I could find. Attending the Fort Bend Beekeepers Association, I found a senior beekeeper to mentor me. He reluctantly did so, but I ran full steam ahead! Our first swarm of bees was caught in our own backyard! By the end of the week I had two, and by the end of the month I had 6 hives.
Partnering up with another hobbyist beekeeper, we started providing bee removal service to our community. This included professional cutouts and repairs to safely rehome the bees.
Alongside Brent, we started a Farmers Market in our community and sold honey there as well.
I bought a large block of beeswax from my mentor and started teaching myself how to make candles and other beeswax products. My candles were beautiful and smelled amazing! I decided to create an Etsy shop and to come up with a name for my shop, couldnât be easier! And so, SweetNes Honey Apiaries & Beetique was born in 2016.
As someone who changed track completely, what challenges did you face as beekeepers?
Initially our apiary was located on someone else's property which got completely flooded during hurricane Harvey. Sadly, we lost over half of our bees in the flood. But in the face of this challenge, we decided to take the plunge and move to Damon, Texas, where we could dedicate more acreage for rebuilding & growing our business.
Our next challenge came when one of the members at the Fort Bend Beekeepers Association, announced that they would be retiring and selling off their entire honey business. This time it was Brent who acted off impulse (& his sense of entrepreneurship) and purchased the complete business! Overnight we became the owners of 150 hives!
You have told us how crazy you are about honeybees, does Brent also share this love?
It is so funny, because never in a million years did we think that HE would become a beekeeper! When I first started beekeeping, he was involved with the business side of it, but definitely not the bee side of it. Today, he is elbow deep in bees with me and loves selling honey on the side of the road. We make a rather good team overall. He is the analytical âbig pictureâ and numbers guy, while I am more creative, detail oriented and âitâs the small things that matterâ person. We harmoniously balance each other out.
What is the USP of SweetNes Honey Apiaries and Beetique?
Here at SweetNes Honey Apiaries & Beetique, we take pride in offering an array of all-natural high-quality products straight from our beehive. Pure raw unfiltered wildflower, clover, tallow and Huajilla honey to name a few. Creamed honey in an assortment of flavors, organically infused honey, honey sticks, fresh cut comb, pollen, natural beeswax in bulk, beeswax candles, balms, and many other bee-made items come from our honey farm. We are a family owned and operated Honey Farm & Rescue and do all of our beekeeping and honey production ourselves.
Apart from honey products, you also offer âBee a Keeperâ Tours. Can you share with us, how it is to show people around your farm?
Have you ever wondered how honey is made? How bees work together inside their beehives? Or what exactly does a beekeeper do? Well, now you can experience just that! At SweetNes Honey Apiaries & Beetique, we offer âBee-a-Keeper Toursâ where you can explore all things bees! Visitors can don a beekeeping suit, light a smoker, and look deep inside an active beehive. We have families who love to take as many pictures and silly selfies with the honeybees!
People of all ages are welcome to tour our Honey House where we process our honey and stroll the apiary here on site. We also have some adorable other furry friends roaming around waiting to be loved on. We enjoy watching fascinated visitors looking at the busy bees at work. There is something to learn no matter who you are. Whether you are interested in becoming a beekeeper, or just want to fulfill an item off your bucket list, we are here to help!
What are your aspirations for SweetNes Honey for the time to come?
Our passion for bees goes much further than just harvesting that beautiful golden honey. We offer honeybee educational presentations to schools, boy & girl scout troops, small groups, networking events, environmental day events, corporate business events, families and even parties. We bring in an observation hive with live bees and beekeeping equipment for everyone to smell and feel. There are some products from the hive and even some honey sticks for them to take home.
We want to teach as well as inspire creativity for nature. We strive to bring awareness for our buzzy friends- the pollinators and how important they are to our food supply and overall ecosystem.
Apart from the online store, where can we find SweetNes Honey products?
Our sweet products can easily be found on our website at www.sweetneshoney.com or on Etsy at SweetNes Honey Beetique.
We do doorstep deliveries ourselves to local places. If you are further away, it will be promptly shipped to you. You can call our Honey Hotline: 832-303-1595 and we will get you connected to a retailer near you that carries our sweet products.
Catch us at local Farmers Markets such at the Energy Corridor at Republic Square Farmers Market, & Blessington Farms, Dewberry Farms. We love getting out and mingling with people and letting everyone try our products. If you have any questions about a specific product, location to pick up, give us a buzz at: hihoney@sweetneshoney.com
SweetNes Honey Apiaries & Beetique simply wants to give the world,
âA little something to make life sweeter!â
