Maple Grove resident Myla Meier is a beekeeper and proprietor of Sweet Bee Honey and Crafts. Meier’s business benefits the environment, provides supplemental income to her family and supplies her customers with exceptional hand-made products. Everything from award-winning liquid honey to creamed honey, candles, soaps and balms are available online.
The idea was sparked at Gale Woods Farm in 2010 when Meier enrolled in a beekeeping class offered through the Three Rivers Park District. “I have an environmental studies degree and have worked in gardening maintenance,” Meier says. “The beekeeping class got me fascinated with the biology of bees and I was excited to try beekeeping.”
The class taught by entomologist Dan Palmer of Gale Woods Farm included a visit to a hive and explanations on how to build necessary equipment. To get started, Meier ordered bees from Nature’s Nectar in Stillwater. Each package weighs 3 pounds and contains a queen bee in a tiny cage and about 10,000 worker bees. Meier was enthusiastic about picking up her new bees on Earth Day. “But I was a bit naïve in the beginning,” says Meier. “I discovered a city ordinance that prohibits having bees anywhere but on agricultural property. This ruled out keeping my new bees in my own backyard.”
But this was only a momentary setback. She emailed a request to Bruce Smith, owner of Smith’s Farms in Brooklyn Park, asking if she could keep bees on his farm. Smith had been experiencing poor pollination and was within days of ordering his own bees. Nationwide colony collapse (a sudden and extreme decrease in the number of bees due to the failure of their hives) and a decline in domestic honeybees have put pressure on crops requiring insect pollination. “I was not interested in doing my own beekeeping,” Smith says, “but I couldn’t go another year without bees. Meier’s offer was perfect timing.”
Smith says Meier’s bees have been part of a noticeable increase in his farm’s production of produce like cucumbers and berries. “The honey Meier gets is also very good,” Smith says. “I think it’s because we have lots of strawberries and basswood on our farm. Her honey is light, mild and has great flavor.”
Before becoming a beekeeper, Meier didn’t realize honey tastes different depending on where hives are kept in relation to the plants that surround them. Meier says, “I love this job’s connection to plants and I plan my beekeeping around bloom times of different pollinating plants.”
Her efforts are paying off. Smith isn’t the only one sweet on Sweet Bee Honey. Meier’s honey and honey products won awards at the 2012 Minnesota State Fair. Her honey won a blue ribbon in the novice honey category. Meier was also awarded blue ribbons for her soap and lip balm, and third place for her beeswax candle.
Meier’s continuing education, experience and involvement have strengthened her commitment and connection to the local beekeeping community. She is now secretary of the Minnesota Hobby Beekeepers Association.
Sweet Bee Honey and Craft products are sold online at etsy.com, a virtual marketplace for handmade craft items. Meier supplements the beeswax for the candles she makes from her small number of hives by purchasing from her mentor, Dave Schroeder, who keeps more than 100 hives. Schroeder lives less than three miles from Meier’s hives and has helped answer many questions.
“It’s an expensive hobby,” says Meier. “And I felt a bit guilty about the first year start-up expense. But my expansion into these other useful products provides more steady income, which could eventually allow me to stay home with my son.”
Meier has decided to focus her blooming business on making everything she creates be a gift from the hive. She now offers cute gift boxes that make her products unique and useful presents for friends and family. Sweet Bee Honey and Crafts creates yummy, useful products while benefiting the environment and the local economy.
Courtesy Sweet Bee Honey
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Want to know more? sweetbeehoney.etsy.com
