Tara Chapman, founder of Two Hives Honey talks about her passion for bees. She shares how she started the business and why she loves her job..  Two Hives Honey is a honey farm that prioritizes the health of bees and educates the public on bees and honey.   They sell local raw honey (honey from bees within twenty miles of Austin).   Two Hives also runs the Honey Ranch, a wonderful venue for beekeeping classes, workshops & talks on bees and sustainable agriculture.  

Editor:  Tara, can you tell me a bit about Two Hives Honey and how you started the company?

Tara:  Two Hives Honey is a beekeeping and honey business just East of Austin. We specialize in unique events and education, such as beekeeping classes, hive tours, and honey sensory classes. And of course, we are honey producers! We ARE the beekeepers (which is truly rare for honey companies) and manage hives to produce honey at our Honey Ranch, at retailers locally, and online. Pre-Two Hives, I worked for the federal government in intelligence and then in oversight and policy. I worked on issues mostly in Pakistan, Iraq, and Afghanistan. I took a beekeeping class back in Austin and fell in love with the trade. Quit my job to work for a beekeeper, and here we are!

Editor:  Wow, that’s a lot packed in that paragraph! Transitioning from intelligence work to a honey business that combines beekeeping, managing hives, producing, and selling honey, education.

How long ago did you start this business?

Tara:  I started Two Hives about 6 years ago.

Editor:  You’ve accomplished an incredible amount in six years.   I’m sure you’ve seen a lot of growth, change, and challenges in that six years I’m sure. You said that it is rare for honey companies to be beekeepers. How do most honey companies get their honey?

Tara:  I’m so glad you asked this question.

Most honey companies that you see at stores are actually what are called honey packers. This means that they buy honey from other companies or beekeepers and then jar it up in their own jars with their own labels. One jar of honey can have honey from lots of different beekeepers even across different countries. This is just one of the reasons that most grocery store honey has this bland ‘honey’ flavor and color and aren’t very unique. (if you visit our honey ranch, you will find a rainbow of colors and flavors of honey!) When you are a honey packer, your product is actually several products from lots of different beekeepers, so it’s what is called blended honey. All the honey is mixed together, and the honey loses its unique color and flavor properties as a result.

Editor:    Going to a honey tasting at the Honey Ranch was eye-opening for me. Such a range of flavors based on the location and time that you harvested the honey. That was a phenomenal educational event.

Education is a large part of your culture as a company. Can you talk about some of the ways you educate about honey and beekeeping?

Tara:  I’m so glad you liked it! One of my favorite things is watching someone that has never had small-batch honey before trying it and being shocked at all the flavors you can find with honey. The grocery store tells us that honey is a commodity–it is not!

As far as education goes, we do lots of classes here at the Ranch, but we also use social media to reach far beyond Austin. Instagram in particular is a really important platform for us, and the visual aspect really allows us to show the beauty of pollinators and their role in the ecosystem.

We also have a newsletter that I am pretty proud of (if I had a glass of wine or two I’d probably spend a great deal of time bragging about our open rates -ha!). Each month I try to draw in someone that otherwise would have no interest in what we do by wowing them with our words and stories.

Editor:  Your education is very high transparency, I think that makes it compelling. You talk about the positives of beekeeping but also show the travails of keeping bees, as well as being an entrepreneur.

A central message from you seems to be honey is not a commodity. Two Hives Honey is not a commodity – how is it different from what you find in the ubiquitous bear bottle?

Tara:  First, our honey is not blended, as we already discussed. It’s harvested in small batches from small apiaries all within 20 miles of downtown Austin. Next, its not been pasteurized which means it’s raw–it has not been heated or filtered.  This allows all the medicinal properties of honey to stay intact, and it means it’s chock full of flavor that can be lost in the heating process.

Editor:  Local and seasonal and definitely honey. I was astonished to find out that honey and olive oil are the two most counterfeited agricultural products.

Tara:  That’s right! As is milk–this was one that was new to me when I researched this topic for one of our newsletters. The mafia was once heavily involved in milk adulterations!

Editor:  Wow, you don’t think of the mafia being involved in agricultural products.

I should have asked earlier, How can our readers subscribe to the newsletter?

Tara:  You can visit our website, twohiveshoney.com and scroll down to the bottom and sign up there!

Editor:  The website also has your classes to learn about honey and beekeeping. What would be a good first class for someone interested in learning more about honey?

Tara: That’s right! We have both in-person classes here in Austin and then we have a beautifully filmed online intro to beekeeping class as well.

For those most interested in honey (and I hear you and don’t blame you!) we are about to release a very special new product. In the next few months, you will be able to purchase a honey kit from our online store and then take a self-guided honey sensory class from home! We call it a honey party in a box, as there will be enough honey and accompaniments for 6+ people. We will rotate the options in the box quarterly so that you can take it and have a different experience each time. If you sign up for our newsletter you will be the first to learn when that’s available. And of course, if you are in Austin, come visit us and taste honey to your heart’s delight!

Editor:  I love how central education is to your mission. Also, people can experience the quality and passion you bring to this product without being in Austin.

The first honey tasting I attended was in a strip mall, can you talk about the move to the Honey Ranch and what your plans are for the Honey Ranch?

Tara:  Ohh the old strip mall location. We were originally located in this super shady warehouse center. My directions always started with “make a right at the dodgy Domino’s Pizza!

The Honey Ranch was a COVID pivot success story. I was days away from signing a lease on a downtown space in February 2020. Thank goodness with the shutdown imminent I was able to pull out of that. My then boyfriend, now fiancé, was unemployed shortly thereafter and we ended up living in my 500 square foot house with 2 dogs together. He had a house under contract that he had to pull out of. We felt very hopeless and lost. And one sleepless night I thought “What are you doing? you need LAND”

So, we went on the hunt for at least 5 acres as close to Austin as we could afford. We ended up in this great community with a house on the front side and an old horse barn in the back. We renovated the barn and now it’s a beautiful classroom and a Honey Bar, and we can now do all our tours here on-site (we used to do them at a cidery in South Austin.) It’s been the best decision I’ve made in a long time.

Editor:  The Honey Ranch is awesome.   It’s always fun to come to an event there.  Looking forward, what are you excited about for Two Hives?

Tara:  Selfishly I’m excited that the team is growing and able to execute my vision a little more independently from me. I have a newborn baby at home and have finally accepted that I can’t, in fact, have it all (at least not all at once!). I’ve realized my team can do an amazing job without me hovering so much, so I’m trying to let go. And this is a bit of me getting ahead of myself but I have my eyes on another sustainable CPG company id maybe like to start that will work in tandem with Two Hives, so I’m really focusing on trying to stay in the visionary lane and letting my team rock it!

Editor:  A big step in an entrepreneurial career

Tara:  But I’m still pretty bad at letting go, so accepting all recommendations on how to do better.

Editor:  That’d be an interesting discussion over a drink sometime.  There are so many topics I’d like to dig into further with you!

Two Hives Honey

7617 Nez Perce Trace, Manor, TX 78653

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Image Credit: Max Kelly