We were lucky to catch up with Katherine Haynes recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Katherine , thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
My husband, Anthony, and I started beekeeping in 2019 out of concern for the decline of pollinators, especially honey bees. When our children were little, I began to garden to spend some time outdoors while they played nearby in our fenced in backyard. My husband, Anthony, the son and grandson of farmers, holds a deep-rooted connection with the land and agriculture. Although our concerns emerged from different perspectives, keeping bees together combines our interests and has become a joint venture.
At first, beekeeping was a small way to address the decline of pollinators we were hearing about in gardening and public policy circles. With time, our mission has grown to include raising people’s awareness about the importance of pollinators. As a former teacher and educational researcher, I put my skills to work sharing the miraculous life cycle of bees, their work, and how bees help feed the world. Anthony brings his understanding of broader agriculture. Together, we meet people where they are and build on their knowledge.
Our interest and concern quickly turned into a passion to keep more bees. That led me to think about ways to fund more bee hives, which aren’t cheap. It also led me to develop a line of hive products that starts with honey and includes items made from beeswax such as candles, lotions, lip balm, and other products. Honey remains our gateway product. Who doesn’t love honey?!
The obvious home this endeavor is our family’s fourth generation farm located about an hour west of Nashville. Anthony’s grandfather purchased the farm in the early 1940’s and rehabilitated the land using conservation practices resulted in one of the more productive farms in the area. Our primary apiary is located on the rolling hills of what was once the Haynes Farm cattle operation. For almost 40 years, three generations of Haynes men raised and worked Hereford and then Polled Hereford cattle across these beautiful pastures. These same fields are full of wild flowers and soybeans, abundant sources of pollen and nectar. The old cattle barn and feed lot serve as a perfect home for our apiary and millions of our hardworking bees that make delicious honey.
Education is a large component of what we do. I have happily taught an ever-expanding group of people become better beekeepers, particularly other women who want to keep bees. Beekeeping historically was a man’s job. Today, there is no reason why it should be dominated by one gender more than another. In fact, women beekeepers contribute to men and women getting into beekeeping. Research into pollinators, especially honey bees, offers new discoveries every day, so I read scientific journals, beekeeper blogs, and university research regularly to help us make informed decisions about our beekeeping operation and what we teach the next generation of beekeepers.
Like the 95% of farmers in Tennessee who own family farms, we are trying to preserve and make our operation profitable amid inflation and rising production costs. For Anthony and me, like his parents before them, the farm income offers a second income. But most importantly, beekeeping is our passion project and the most important driver.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Our foray into beekeeping was challenging enough that we have developed a two-pronged model of selling hivegoods to build out our apiaries and providing several beekeeping services to support novice beekeepers and get more managed hives out in the world.
At the beginning of the pandemic, I developed the concept of hivegoods, or the products derived from the raw goods from the hive, namely honey, beeswax, and propolis. I have since submitted a trademark application with the US Patent and Trademark Office for Haynes HivegoodsTM. Honey is the gateway through which people learn about the our efforts with pollinators, honey bees, their honey, and promotion of other hivegoods (beeswax candles, lip balm, lotion bars) individually or bundled in gift baskets.
In 2022, we took Haynes HivegoodsTM to market, so to speak. We set up our tent at the Stephens Valley market in northern Williamson County. Over time, we have developed a dedicated following of people who seek out our delectable wildflower honey at the monthly markets. We are happy to talk to people at these markets about the art and science of beekeeping. We frequently hear about people’s grandfathers who kept bees.
We also offer a series of services to support new and developing beekeepers. Beekeeping is complex and shifts with the changes in plants. This makes the learning curve steep and potentially frustrating. Most local beekeeping associations encourage mentoring. We take it a step further.
Through our hive sponsorship program, we seek to grow new beekeepers in a supportive environment. The format of the hive sponsorship program allows people who are interested in beekeeping to learn how to keep bees successfully. We buy the bees, supply the woodenware, and invite you to join us ‘hiveside’ to learn by doing. Our hive sponsorship model strives to address the steep learning curve involved in beekeeping. Bees and plants are innately linked, a concept called phenology. What is happening in the plant world, which supplies the nectar and pollen on which bees depend, impacts bees’ development. As the spring population increases and persists through the summer, a beekeeper’s management practices, and equipment requirements shift. The changes can be overwhelming and expensive to novice beekeepers. That combined with pest, parasites, pathogens, and predators (the evil four ps) can be overwhelming. The average beekeeper these days has only kept bees for less than ten years. Most beekeepers quit after two years. Our aim is to increase people’s commitment to beekeeping. Our model acknowledges that it is not easy (or cheap).
We aim to support new beekeepers through their first 16-18 months. We keep our bees on hive sponsor’s property. Hive sponsors then learn from us, and then have the option to buy us out of the beekeeping set up on their property once they have learned the complexity that is required. Hive sponsors can make an educated decision about when to fly solo, armed with the training and resources under their belts, and the potential for our ongoing support as needed. This model decreases individual’s risk and helps us meet our goal of getting more bees and beekeepers dotting the Tennessee landscape. We offer individual (backyard, farmstead) and corporate hive sponsorships.
We supply the bees, woodenware, and all the materials to people who want to learn how to keep bees. We invite our hive sponsors to join us “hiveside” in their own PPE to learn as we show them the intricacies of beekeeping. Our goal with the hive sponsorship is to support new beekeepers through their first year-and-a-half to ensure that the bees receive the best possible care, and the beekeepers understand the shifts in hive manipulations as the plant growing season and weather shift. As hive sponsors enters their second fall, they can buy the set-up from us. We remain available to them for ongoing support should they need it. Our hope is that they will become proponents of beekeeping as well.
We also offer a hive inspection and treatment service. New beekeepers and seasoned beekeepers who don’t want to buy the special equipment this requires benefit from this service. It allows us to also share what we know and help other beekeepers build their beekeeping practice. There are always ways to grow and deepen one’s understanding of the intricacies of bee biology, the intersection of bees and plant biology, a field of study called phenology, and how what is going on in the plant world shapes what is happening in a bee colony. Bees and plants are entirely interdependent.
For those clients who are convinced of the importance of pollinators, we keep bees on people’s properties in a modified hive sponsorship program. Like the hive sponsorship program described earlier, we supply the bees, woodenware, and all the materials necessary and do what it takes to keep the bees healthy and productive. We provide a complimentary of honey once the hives begin to produce a surplus, which usually occurs in Year Two.
People who are interested in learning more can reach out to us on our website: HaynesHivegoods.net .
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Our journey, however, has not been without some disappointment. In February of first year of beekeeping, we went to check on “our girls” one late February day. The bees in both hives had died. There was no obvious indication what caused the death of all their bees when all had appeared to be fine just two weeks before. The following year, we started over with three hives. I doubled down by studying the science of beekeeping and doing everything by the book. We managed to successfully overwinter the three colonies that next winter, despite beekeepers across the state and region losing one-in-three hives.
Fast forward, today Haynes Hivegoods has more demand than we can meet. Across our apiaries, we had a total of about 26 hives last year. Anthony talks about having as many as 50 hives eventually. We want people to enjoy what can only come from nature. We do not heat, treat, blend, or modify our honey in any way. We strain it twice to remove impurities and preserve the pollen that offers immune support to seasonal allergens such as ragweed.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
One of the most stimulating things about starting my own beekeeping operation and becoming a business woman is the ongoing learning that comes from such a challenge. I am continuously seeking out new learning opportunities. I routinely read books and attend trainings about beekeeping, marketing, and business development. My favorite resource for beekeeping is The Beekeeper’s Handbook by Diana Sammataro and Alphonse Avitabile. I became a certified Tennessee Master Beekeeper in May 2022, and plan to pursue the advanced certification when it is next available.
On the business side, I have attended numerous virtual and in-person workshops offered by the Center for Profitable Agriculture based in Columbia, Tennessee. In fact, I just attended the Tennessee Farmers Market Vendor Bootcamp, a six-week virtual session. They offer training in writing a business plan, business development, support for writing value-added producer grant applications to the USDA, and market development. I regularly attend the PickTN Conference and Tennessee Beekeeping Association meetings for continued education and networking. In my experience, Tennessee offers a wealth of educational resources in support of agriculture related businesses. I invariably attend one educational session and then learn about a handful of additional opportunities. The learning opportunities then mushroom!
Contact Info:
Image Credits
Anthony Haynes