We recently connected with Dylan Roe and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Dylan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
Beekeeping is one of the most gravitationally aligning privileges our species could ever have!
If there is one thing that 8 years of dragging my face through the sand in the Marine Corps Infantry taught me, it’s that all life in this Universe is invaluable.
After a medical retirement and completing a degree in Psychology with a Concentration in Mental Health, my destiny at this moment in spacetime is to stay home with my daughters, be the best Dad I can be, and support my divine goddess Wife with her career!
While she radiates female-driven success to our observant offspring, and while still wanting to serve the county, the state, and the Universe that has embraced my family so well, I set my sights on Beekeeping in the Beehive State!!
I began reading all the books I could about the Apis Mellifera in an effort to learn how to support the life of these irreplaceable, and endangered, celestial creations.
Additionally, I researched how to utilize the natural Earth of Utah to feed, protect, and nurture them.
After putting together hundreds of frames, and coordinating an apiary location with stellar local farmers; we installed our first colonies!
The subtle frequency emitted by the tiny vibrations of hundreds of beats per minute, in the entropy of thousands of individual, living, breathing honeybees tapped the core of my spine as if the Universe itself was telling me my existence had purpose.
To share the breathtaking feeling of that encounter, my beekeeping business has served as an educator to the public during several community and academic events regarding honeybee preservation.
Additionally, we maintain several busy little bee colonies that support our community with pollination; providing fresh fruits and vegetables, harboring healthier ecosystem growth, and building a more sustainable climate for the future humankind.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Beekeeping is a lot of really hard work, for a much greater purpose, with just about zero profitability.
To be honest, after being blown up, shot at, beaten, broken down, and sleep-deprived in the Marines under those same stipulations, beekeeping came naturally!
As a second-year beekeeper, and armed with a little experience, Eight Eighteen Apiary has been invited to help educate the community during Wholesome Co Cannabis’, 3rd annual, 4/20 event and Split Leaf Coffee Company’s Bee Festival Earth Day Celebration!
Additionally, we participated in several Science Technology Engineering & Math (STEM) Nights at local Elementary Schools to help inspire the youth about our natural world and the Magic of Bees!!
Empowered by the outstanding human beings at Wholesome Co Cannabis, an industry leader in Medical Cannabis treatment and education, we were able to create Utah’s very first, Cannabis Infused, Locally Sourced, Honey Gummy!
Specifically designed in collaboration with pharmacists as a treatment option for patients suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), this exclusive medication is non-life-threatening, utilizes honey created by bees from the landscape of Utah, and donates 5% of sales to the Safe Harbor Crisis Center, the only domestic violence and sexual assault service provider in Davis County, Utah!
Most importantly, our bees have gone above and beyond in aiding agricultural efforts in Davis County to help feed our ecosystem and fellow humans!!
Eight Eighteen Apiary takes pride in supporting all life on Earth in the most genuinely human way possible.
Our goal as a company is to become THE local resource for farmers to do more to support pollination efforts!
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Believe it or not, dawning a suit and playing with these beautiful sky raisins is the easiest part of beekeeping!
I had to pivot a few times throughout this 18-month adventure with my biggest friction points being funding, land use agreements, and pesticides.
The Beehive State has a substantial number of public resources providing information on apiculture in Utah!
Unfortunately, there is little, if any, funding allocated that directly supports the beekeeper.
Classified as livestock by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Federal funding that beekeeping qualifies for is in the form of farm loans, which would have required us to sell our house to afford the down payment.
Obviously not an option for our family, we decided to reach out to local farms and trade our pollination service for space on their farm to build an apiary.
The result has been an absolutely beautiful symbiotic relationship full of love, support, and healthier harvests!!!
Our latest pivot has been to increase our stock to avoid continuously having to, personally, endure the cost of having to replace bees killed by harsh weather, and most of the time, pesticides.
Our vision is to purchase an enclosed trailer to utilize for harboring a safe environment in which we can better protect our little bees from scavengers, harsh wind, and drastic wintery weather.
Additionally, we would be able to transport our apiary to farms throughout the Beehive State aiding in local agricultural production that feeds our community’s people!!
Beekeeping in Utah’s climate is incredibly difficult and often results in 54% loss of livestock each year.
It breaks my heart to see bees sent from California to pollinate farms across Davis County, Utah knowing so many good, local, Utah’n beekeepers are pouring everything they have into keeping their bees alive and pollinating!
Bringing pollination services back to the roots of Utah, where all Utahn’s work together to build a stronger colony, would be remarkable for our local ecosystem!
Support Davis County Local!!
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Similarly, to the cover of most corporate veils, the honey market has been tremendously altered by cheaper foreign competition, ultra-filtering to remove pollen, and fervent efforts of crystallization prevention.
Exposure to pollen is what provides allergenic health benefits to humans by eating honey. Eating store-bought honey, especially if it says, “Local Honey”, is likely not doing much to help you with seasonal allergies.
Pollen is also how the origin of the honey is able to be traced!
Unfortunately, as several reputable sources have identified, most large grocery companies, and their suppliers, will purchase cheaper honey from overseas with the pollen filtered out to remove evidence of origin and mitigate crystallization.
The rebranded honey is then sold using words like ‘local’ or as if it were from your respective state.
Eight Eighteen Apiary recognizes how corporations undercut the hard work, perseverance, and strength of the Honeybees and their keepers; and how much their desire for profit undermines the quality of honey that fellow human beings are consuming.
The honeybee is essential for all life on Earth and responsible for producing 70% of the fruits and vegetables humans consume in the US.
Bees work hard for our Earth, and we pride our reputation in providing genuine, raw, softly filtered, Utah honey directly from the local agriculture to our customers!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @eighteighteenapiary
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eighteighteenapiary/