Our Story

Having grown up surrounded by Rothrock State Forest, named after John Rothrock, one of Pennsylvania’s famous environmentalists, we’ve always had a strong connection to the outdoors and nature. Beekeeping is a natural extension of that love. 

 

In 2013, Eric began our beekeeping adventure with two starter hives. With no fear of stings and a mindset that leads him to seek out best techniques, his operation has grown to over 30 colonies across three bee yards and a state-inspected honey house for processing honey. He builds most of our hive equipment and has recently started rearing queens. 

 

Amy, meanwhile, has a passion for environmental conservation and spends many weekends planting trees and restoring native habitat. She’s pledged to plant two native trees or shrubs per hive per year, which makes for lots of pollinator plants and much hole digging. 

 

Adelyn, 14, is our family artist and loves to take the lead on bottling and tying tags. Sam, 10, is always game to open the hives, check the bees, and locate the sometimes-elusive queen. Because he’s barefoot in most seasons, he has the unfortunate luck of frequently being stung. In the autumn and spring, both kids are likely to be found with a chilled bee in their cupped hands, gently warming (and so reviving) the bee with their breath so she can finish her flight back to the hive.