Dawg Gone Bees, LLC is a completely family owned and operated business. What began as a small honey stand in 2009 has since grown into a multi-location operation producing a robust line of homemade honey and bee products, including mead – “the oldest alcohol.” We are the only local honey bee store devoted solely to bees and their products. Our line includes raw honey, fruit spreads, honey specialties, beeswax candles, bath & body products, BEES-wrap, honey crackle popcorn, granola, puppy treats, gift boxes, retail items and honeybee orders. We also sell other locally made products like pottery and jewelry. This year we are adding a line of beekeeping equipment, complete colony set ups made locally and other necessary supplies such as smokers, head veils, etc.
Our beekeeping roots can be tracked back to George Wesley in the 1870’s. Later, his grandson Floyd started his own apiary and passed his knowledge on to his grandson Hal, who is the beekeeper at Dawg Gone Bees today. With over 30 years of experience, Hal is happy to help local beekeepers with questions and advice.
When Hal began working with bees on his own, he tried to bring his best friend Penny (our chocolate lab) along with him. It did not work out well, and thereafter Penny had to remain home while he visited the bees. Every time Hal left, his wife, Jacki, would comment on how Penny laid around pouting. Penny had to be thinking, “those dawg gone bees!” So, when Jacki began taking the honey to market and needed a business name – Dawg Gone Bees was born!
As Jacki began making more products to take to market with our honey, the business grew. She became busier and her mother and daughter helped by making their own products for Dawg Gone Bees to sell. As a family affair, Dawg Gone Bees strives to keep with Grandpa Wesley’s teachings. Our hives are treated all naturally (no chemicals or antibiotics) and we do not “feed” our bees corn syrup or sugar. This ensures that our honey is always pure. Just like our honey – we pride ourselves on creating quality, homemade, all-natural products.
Our latest expansion venture is our largest and most exciting yet – MEAD! After a lengthy period of trial and error, we finally developed a worthy recipe to share with our customers. Mead is an alcoholic beverage predating wine that is made from honey – not fruit. It was the Viking’s drink of choice and what the legendary Robin Hood’s Friar Tuck supposedly cultivated. Dawg Gone Bees’ mead utilizes the various flavors in our honey, as well as fruits and spices, to create different varieties of mead ranging from semi-dry to sweet.
