At CheeBee Apiary...
...We dedicate ouR time to producing products and services of the highest quality and value.
- When serving our customers out in the field with removals and relocations we commit ourselves to outstanding quality and professionalism.
- Our hives and hive equipment are built sustainably and responsibly using only the finest untreated reclaimed lumber and are built to our exacting standards. There is no factory. These hives are crafted by hand with care.
- Our honey and honey products must pass the strictest test, our own family's taste buds. If we wouldn't feed it to our own children we wouldn't feed it to you. Raw, Natural, Unfiltered from hives receiving no chemical treatments or poisons. Real honey from real bees.
- The bees that we raise are Feral Survivor Bees. Each hive that we maintain was collected by hand from the wild, having never been treated with chemicals or pesticides.
- We are gentle with our bees and never treat them with any sort of chemical whatsoever so wether you are purchasing bees or bee products you can rest assured that no chemicals, poisons or petroleum products will be passed down to you.
- When we sell bees, Nucs or full fledged colonies, you can be assured that the hive has a fully mated queen which lays to our standards. No cast off bees here. We won't sell bees that we wouldn't keep ourselves.
- Our bees are gentle! We don't keep grouchy bees! Queen's that create grumpy bees are replaced immediately with gentle Feral Survivor stock. We will never sell you a "hot" hive.
- We are committed to the original cause. We want to bring people the joy of bees, bee products and bee related services at a reasonable cost.. We don't believe in robbing our neighbors. We believe in helping them. Which is why we offer low cost and even no cost removal services for people in need.
Our story
It all began...
...In 2005 after Hurricane Katrina. I was displaced in Texas and met a man who's Blue Heeler dog was having puppies. It was Christmas day 2005. I would visit him every day and help him with the puppies. It came time for him to sell the puppies when I said I wanted one. He asked me which one I wanted and I told him I wanted the little one who sat by himself all the time while the other puppies played. He said that dog was no good, that I should pick another, but the truth was I had my eye on that particular puppy the whole time.
I took him home and named him Clovis. I could quickly see how smart he was and he became my son and brother and workmate. He would wear little saddlebags and carry my fencing supplies. He would haul cedar poles with me. He would herd the chickens on our poultry farm. And, most of all, he would love. Our time in Texas came to an end and we moved back to Louisiana.
He'd gained a hundred nicknames in a few short years but the one that stuck the most was CheeBee. He was a special sort of pup. He would turn off lights for me and dance and sing and do all manner of amazing things. He was so smart and helpful that I eventually trained him to be a service dog. And service dog he was! That sweet baby would love and help every chance he had and he was loved deeply by everyone who knew him. He never bit or threatened and he made the biggest difference in my life.
Many years ago now, when I first became interested in bees, I knew what I wanted out of my apiary but I never knew what to name it. I knew that I wanted to make a difference in my community and so I eventually named it CheeBee Apiary because of the difference CheeBee had made for me. CheeBee always helped and spread love wherever he could and I knew that with my knowledge, skills and experience that I could help people too, with low cost and no cost bee removal and quality products and services that didn't heartlessly charge the daylights out of everyone regardless of their position. Being displaced after Hurricane Katrina taught me several lessons about how people will overcharge and take advantage of you and several more about how other people will bend over backwards to help. I wanted to bend over backwards.
CheeBee passed away in January 2017 and the hurt is still fresh. But his spirit lives on in me and in our mission here at CheeBee Apiary. People are people to us, not profits. We are always working toward our eventual goal of charitableness. We want to bring a program that donates bees and bee equipment to young folks without the money, but with the will, to get started in beekeeping. A program which I have had in mind since the beginning. CheeBee's Free Bees. Another thing that we are working toward is a local food program to help feed needy children in our communities, Feed Me CheeBee. Children should never be hungry. Ever. Just because we can't eradicate hunger doesn't mean we shouldn't try. We have already been able to distribute food and clean, fresh drinking water to communities in Texas, CheeBee's birth state, and Louisiana, my birth State. With hard work, and dedication to quality products and services our charitable programs, CheeBee's Free Bees, Feed Me CheeBee and Turn Up for the Kids will grow and flourish like our bees and like the biggest bee I've ever known. CheeBee.
