Today we’d like to introduce you to Kenneth Coleman.
Kenneth, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I would spend summers in North Carolina with my grandfather when I was young. He lived near some old farms. I would help all of them work their bees, for fun, when I could. It is always something that stuck with me, but never really reared its head until years later. A friend of mine had a swarm of bees show up at his job, and one thing lead to another. We ended up removing it and hiving the bees. We did more removals and purchased some bees from other beekeepers. Since then we have grown organically to where we are today.
I wanted to sell our honey but knew there tons of other beeks selling honey and I wanted to stand apart from the rest. We started playing with infused honey and experimenting with different kinds. We now have 25 different kinds from habanero to hibiscus and garlic to ginger. Some really crazy ones, but they all taste amazing!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We have struggled some. I have a full time IT job. I jokingly say IT is my 9am-5pm job and bee are my 5pm-9am job. It has been hard to find dedicated people to help with it.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Uncommon Bee Farm – what should we know?
We call ourselves Uncommon Bees because we strive to be uncommon. By that, I mean, we don’t want to be like the rest. A lot of beekeepers number one priority is the production of the hive. I strive for a healthy hive, not necessarily a strong producing hive. If the hive doesn’t get it we don’t take it. There is a lot of confusion and misunderstanding nowadays, with the fear of colony collapse and losing the bees. Truth be told, honey bees are not native to the USA and if we did lose all the honey bees, all we would lose is our overproduction of a lot of crops. Commercial beekeepers haul bees all over the United States, on the back of trucks, spreading diseases and pest all over the country. They destroy their hives every year to harvest all the honey they can, then rebuild the hive, and feed them sugar water to make it through the winter. We strive to do what is right for the bees, and to date, the bees have treated us right.
What sets us apart is our infused honey. We have found the that people, after tasting our infused honey, are amazed at how versatile honey can be. from cooking with our garlic infused honey to putting our hibiscus honey on cheesecake, or just sitting down with a spoon and enjoying some our vanilla infused honey. It is amazing, what you can do with it.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Just keeping moving forward. No matter what happens, just move forward even if it is only half a step. MOVE.
Pricing:
- Most of our Honey sell for $12 a jar
Contact Info:
- Phone: 346-708-BEES
- Email: Info@UncommonBees.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncommonbees/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UncommonBees/
Image Credit:
Portia Coleman
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