Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Buergers.
Nicole, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Founded in 2016 by Nicole Buergers, a burnout B2B internet marketer, who decided to leave her corporate marketing agency and do something completely different. She both wanted to encourage “newbee” beekeepers as well as provide services for the established hobbyist beekeeper. Bee2Bee Honey was her answer to a market flooded with both local backyard beekeepers and customers who wanted honey from their neighborhood – but no means to get one connected to the other.
Bee2Bee now provides beekeeping services to the City of Houston, the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, the Houston Dairymaids as well as families all over Houston. Bee2Bee’s neighborhood honey is found at eight retailers, in restaurants and online.
Has it been a smooth road?
Nothing about starting your own business is smooth! First, taking the leap from a salaried, secured job to becoming your own boss was both scary and thrilling; it’s been a complete lifestyle change. I’ve personally struggled financially as well as physically – beekeeping is incredibly demanding work. A lot of sweat, blood and bee stings have been poured into this business. Not to mention that Hurricane Harvey, both the flooding and the aerial spraying, proved difficult for Bee2Bee.
A few years in and I finally feel like I’m getting the hang of things, but continue to have a hard time juggling the thousands of little things that must be done on a continuous basis.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Bee2Bee Honey Collective provides beekeeping services and hyperlocal honey throughout Houston. We currently have over 60 beehives in micro-apiaries in Houston yards, on rooftops inside the loop, in suburbs, and alongside businesses/non-profits.
Our specialties include small-batch honey, honey infusions, and products of the beehive. We are always experimenting with new flavors and seeking special honey varietals. Our honey is always unfiltered and raw. We’re licensed with the Texas Department of State Health Services and registered with the FDA, allowing us to sell online, retail and wholesale.
Our mission is educational – we provide beekeeping mentorship to individuals/families as well as classes and presentations on various subjects such as backyard beekeeping, urban pollination, honey varietals, honey marketing, and honey pairing. The result is a small army of educated hobbyist beekeepers and an informed public.
We currently have a limited selection of honey, with many more flavors and neighborhoods to come. We separate harvests beehive to beehive, as each colony’s foraging is different and results in a different terroir. This Summer (2018), we have harvested from 11 Houston neighborhoods – over 500 pounds of honey!
We always bottle in glass for two main reasons. First, as beekeepers, we are conscious of the environment and try not to add more plastic when possible to the market. Second, bottling in plastic affects the honey’s taste, especially over time. We urge consumers to not buy honey in plastic, to reuse our jars and even offer a deposit towards a future order. We take pride in our product and our packaging. Our tureen jars with wide mouths were designed to look beautiful on a cheese board.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Houston is an amazing place for beekeeping! Honestly, there could be a dozen beekeeping service providers in the city and it would not feel crowded; we get inquiries on a constant basis.
I would highly recommend starting any business in Houston; people are welcoming and supportive.
There is room for improvement; I sometimes receive backlash or astonishment that I’m keeping bees in an urban environment. There are HUNDREDS of backyard beekeepers in Houston, but the general public has no idea that they exist! There is a great fear of honey bees and we work daily to educate Houstonians about honey bee behavior. Of course, I would love for individuals to use fewer chemicals in their yards, particularly mosquito control systems. There are certain neighborhoods with deed restrictions preventing bees.
All in all, Houston, with its lush green spaces and gardens, is a fantastic place for bees and beekeepers!
Pricing:
- Beekeeping Services starting at $75, dependent on # of hives and location
- Beekeeping Consulting starting at $75, dependent on # of hives and location
- Beekeeping Classes $50, monthly at the Houston Dairymaids
- Local honey, honey varietals, honey infusions and honeycomb, $7 and up
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.bee2beehoney.com
- Phone: 281-845-4069
- Email: info@bee2beehoney.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bee2beehoney/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bee2beehoneytx
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/bee2beehoneytx
- Other: http://eepurl.com/cmAB6n
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
