- September 6, 2024
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Bees have individual personalities, said Alma Johnson, owner of Sarasota Honey Company.
That means that some bees aren't thrilled at having their hives disassembled and transported, but for Johnson, a relocation was nonetheless in order.
Earlier this month, the store departed its former University Parkway location, moving the 20 hives on the property to other sites in the community and set up shop at The Bazaar on Apricot & Lime.
So far, she said, she’s finding success with the new platform for her urban raw honey and other related products, alongside the Bazaar's other local vendors offering unique products.
“We love the sense of community here. Everyone is so welcoming,” she said.
Many people might have been curious about the small, yellow building alongside University Parkway, but not all of those people visited the site, Johnson said.
She said one of the many factors that went into the move was the relative inaccessibility of the store, for those who weren't willing to specifically seek out honey.
“One of the things that we heard a lot with the University Parkway store, which also helped a lot with the decision, was that people just fly right past us,” she said. “Oh yeah, 'You're the one that owns that cute little building. I want to stop by,’ but yet they never have.”
The business also had yet to overcome the impacts of Hurricane Ian, which she said was not only devastating for the bees, but also financially.
They had experienced huge losses of bees, especially as they made the mistake of moving hives off the local islands to the Arcadia area, which ultimately received more serious impacts.
Although she is confident the bees did not drown, as they were able to escape from the tops of the hives in the event of flooding, many of them were lost in the storm.
“We’re still trying to recoup from all that,” she said. “The bees were not able to build back to their full strength because we didn't have enough rain. No rain, no nectar. No nectar, no honey, nothing to make the honeycomb grow. It's been a tough year for us, and other beekeepers as well."
After the storm, was when she began to see rising insurance costs, something that affected the University Parkway site disproportionately because of its location within three miles of the coast.
Since others were experiencing similar issues that resulted in the rising cost of rent.
“We do buy local, and their expenses have gone up, so hence the cost of the glass jar has gone up, their cost of the labels and everything has gone up,” she said.
The business lost four workers because they could not afford to rent in Sarasota, and the public became more reserved in its spending, buying fewer and smaller jars of honey, although online sales did increase.
Johnson said because the business’ products are all handmade, while it performs work with special needs employees, its production model was not as efficient as that of some other businesses.
All of those factors led up to the realization that it was time to move.
“We're able to save a significant amount of overhead. And with those savings, we're able to give our folks significant raises,” she said.
The savings mean new opportunities like a bee sponsorship program the company plans to establish. Customers would be able to sponsor hives by paying upfront for a certain amount of honey that would come primarily from those hives.
They are also continuing to work with other small businesses in the community.
“It allows us more time to be mad scientists,” she said.
The store currently offers a coffee-infused honey made in partnership with O&A Coffee, and will be working with Siesta Key Rum to debut a rum-infused honey and a barrel-aged honey. Meanwhile, Siesta Key Rum will be able to make use of the residual honey in the barrels, she said.
All of this is why Johnson chose to undertake the task of transporting the 20 beehives that were housed at the University Parkway property, a number which expanded to 40 when the hives were too heavy to transport, at 315 to 425 pounds, without being split.
Her hives are located at various spots in the local area, with some being hosted by neighborhood residents, while the bees are bred and rehabilitated at her farm in Palmetto.
The hives, which include woodworking and frames that house the bees, are built in such a way that they can be split apart.
Her bees are bred to meet certain behavioral standards before the hives are placed in the community. Nonetheless, even the nicest bees may not be nice at night, she said, and nighttime is the only time when hives can be moved, as that is when bees are inside.
Although Johnson managed to avoid being stung, one newer worker did not fare as well, getting stung around her ankles.
Since blooms are currently occurring on the beaches, the hives were moved to Siesta Key Beach, Anna Maria Island, Lido Beach and New College of Florida. A variety of flavors can be created from the local area, Johnson said, like a “mystery bloom” found in Osprey.
She's glad to have the new location for people to taste what the blooms of the local area offer.
“I think by being here, we're going to be able to reach out to other people that maybe weren't thinking about honey, they just wanted to visit a cool spot or they were coming in for some awesome buttons or some fun plants,” she said. “We're sharing customers and market bases as well.”
