Spotlight: Sweet Bee Apiary — Mountain Honey with a Mission

Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains outside Asheville, Sweet Bee Apiary manages over 200 hives across three counties. But for founder Maria Santos, the apiary is about more than honey. It is about protecting pollinators and building a sustainable local food economy.

We visited the apiary to see how they turn mountain wildflowers into some of the best raw honey in the Southeast.

Maria started with two hives in her backyard in 2009. "I was a gardener first," she says. "I got bees to improve pollination. The honey was almost an afterthought." Seventeen years later, Sweet Bee is a full-time operation with a team of four.

The apiary produces five varieties of honey, each reflecting the seasonal flora of the Blue Ridge: spring wildflower, sourwood, tulip poplar, goldenrod, and a limited-edition mountain blend.

Sourwood honey is their flagship product. Harvested in July when the sourwood trees bloom, it has a buttery, almost caramel-like flavor that has earned it a devoted following. They typically sell out within weeks of harvest.

Beyond honey, Sweet Bee sells beeswax candles, lip balm, and pollen. They also offer pollination services to local farms, placing hives in orchards and berry fields during bloom season.

Maria is an outspoken advocate for pollinator health. She runs free workshops on bee-friendly gardening and donates a percentage of revenue to native pollinator habitat restoration.

"Every jar of honey is a vote for the kind of agriculture you want to see," Maria says. "When you buy from a local beekeeper, you are supporting the bees, the wildflowers, and the whole ecosystem that makes local food possible."