Edible Food Finds: Beverly Bees
Photo by Michael Piazza
Anita Deeley turned an afternoon activity into a new career focus when she took her son to the Topsfield Fair and learned how to roll beeswax candles. She eventually purchased a hive of her own, studied organic beekeeping, worked as a Massachusetts State Bee Inspector for six years and eventually launched her own business, Beverly Bees.
Beverly Bees, based in Beverly, Massachusetts, is a beekeeping and bee removal business with a mission to mindfully keep bees in an organic, treatment-free and sustainable way. The honey is spun in a micro-batch process, which Anita explains “is like a fine wine. The process allows our honey to maintain the unique flavor profile of the area from which it was harvested.” As a result, each jar of honey tastes different and is labeled with the name of the town and batch number indicating the location it was created. The pure raw honey is unfiltered, which locks in all the pollen, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals inside. It’s also unheated, which allows its natural enzymes to remain intact.
In addition to selling award-winning honey, Beverly Bees sells pure beeswax candles, blocks, lip balms, lotions, salves and some beekeeping supplies. Products can be purchased in Beverly by appointment, from their website, over the phone or from various local farmers markets and stores as listed on the company website. Anita’s team also strives to raise awareness about caring for honey bees and to increase the honey bee population through their “Host A Hive” program. Anita jests, “We are busy little bees” at Beverly Bees.
This story appeared in the Summer 2019 issue.
