We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Stephanie Ramthun a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Stephanie, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
We left the military and decided to become beekeepers! That was a huge leap for us!
Stephanie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Christian and I entered the apiary business in Oct of 2014 after Christian retired from the military (after 22 years) and was looking for another line of work. We were interested in the honey bee business after being introduced through my brother Daniel. Daniel had been keeping bees in the Wisconsin area and after a visit, we were hooked. We were so excited at the thought of having our own bees so we jumped into learning everything we could about the bee business and immediately got to work, surrounding ourselves with this beautiful world of beekeeping. We picked the name Ramthun Bees for the first 5 years of business, but soon realized no one could pronounce our name or spell it correctly so we changed it to Tampa Bees since that is where we are based. We began as commercial beekeepers doing pollination contracts for local farmers, but then after a few years of consistently losing bees, not making honey and wearing ourselves out for a measly wage, we decided to change directions.
We are currently involved in several facets of beekeeping. One of the programs I run is a Hive Hosting program where I place hives on other peoples land and they pay me for pollination services and also honey. (The hive becomes a focal point in their yard and an excellent teaching tool as well as a conversational piece!) I have several clients tell me that they stand and talk to the bees and that watching them work is the most peaceful thing!
I also offer my beekeeping knowledge to the the local schools in the area. I have taught for All American Teach In as well as AG Venture at the Convention Center. I teach about bees to local Girl Scout Troops and Boy Scout Troops. I have been to several Garden clubs in the Tampa area. I also attend private schools and private events. I always bring live bees with me in an observation hive and that is ALWAYS a hit!
One of my first jobs was to do Bee Rescues. I would get calls from local people who had bees in their homes, trees, sheds, owl houses, electric boxes and water meters! I bought a bee vacuum so I don’t hurt the bees and I relocate the bees safely to a rural area. I don’t do as many of these anymore because I simply don’t have time, but I did enjoy the challenge of finding the queen and completing the job!
People always ask where they can buy my honey! I tell them to go on Etsy, or shop at Sal’s Bodega in South Tampa. I am also at TeBella Tea Company. My biggest sales are at Keystone Farmers Market in Odessa where I also have about 50 hives in that area. I also have some honey at Keystone Corner. I am looking to expand into Saint Petersburg where I have about 30 hives so I am looking for a local place to sell.
My honey is ALWAYS local, Raw ( meaning not heated), Unfiltered ( meaning pollens are in the honey)
I use a stainless steel tank to process the honey. I bottle in a food safe kitchen. I typically have 2 varieties of honey, but I am looking into honey testing so that I can also label my honey as Palmetto or Brazilian Pepper instead of just wildflower honey. Currently I sell Wildflower and Orange Blossom honey.
The bees are so amazing and everything they do in the hive is profitable for us! I am able to get enough beeswax to make pure beeswax candles ( they actually clean the air!) I also sell pollen on occasion. We are also getting involved in my newest passion which is Apitherapy. This is a term used to describe medicinal benefits to humans using products from the hive.. not just honey and pollen, but also Propolis and bee bread.
Bee venom is becoming a hot topic among the natural health community. I have assisted in the education of bee venom therapy and all its benefits! I recently attended an Apitherapy conference in Parsippany, NJ, put on by the American Apitherapy Society ( of which I am a member). I learned about something which is also NEW to me but not to Europe, Eastern and Middle Eastern Cultures.. Breathing hive air is very beneficial to us in many ways!
With all these wonderful things the bees can do I simply can’t keep it to myself! I also got into doing Bee Experiences where people can book with Tampa Bees and come out to the field with me and experience the life of a beekeeper for an hour and a half! We look into the hive (fully suited up) and I explain what they are doing and why. Then we taste honey right from the combs! One of the highlights of the day is finding the queen and also hoping to catch a bee being born! We take LOTS of pictures and have lots of fun!
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I got a call from Betsy (a neighbor) that the bees are falling from the sky and landing on the sidewalk..combs and all! She was frantic. She was worried about Halloween being in a few weeks time and all the kiddos walking under this hive that had grown massive! My husband and I watched it grow from a small basketball size to about 3 feet by 2 feet deep! The bees had built their nest hanging from a limb of a tree, but also attached it to some palm fronds which turned out to be a VERY bad idea! We had some strong almost hurricane force winds that took down part of the combs. Unfortunately for her the hive was about 20 feet in the air and I wasn’t going to go in anything but a bucket lift. We found out that they were about $800 for a day to rent and so she started a Go Fund me for the neighbors. In no time at all she had enough money to pay for the lift and also for my services! I had to learn in 1 day how to maneuver that very large Heavy piece of equipment! The operator who left me said ” DON”T go off the the sidewalk or we’ll have to have a tow truck get it”. I was VERY nervous and it was not easy since the instruction manual wasn’t very helpful. I had to just practice with the buttons and almost gave up several times. It was quite scary to go that high! I was able to load up all our equipment into the lift and get myself and Sondra ( local beekeeper) into the lift and go up and get the bees! It was very exhilarating!
Betsy was ecstatic and insisted that she keep those bees in a hive in her yard. She was the first of my hive hosting program! She is still going strong and now has 3 hives and we take care of the bees together!
Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?
I think if you ask 20 beekeepers their advice on beekeeping you will get 20 different opinions! I do have some insight on beekeeping in the Tampa area. I know that the areas you can keep bees can be vastly different from each other and each posses their own challenges. I found out through trial and error of moving my bees to different places which areas proved to be most profitable in terms of bee health and honey production. Just gaining experience by working with other beekeepers is vital to learning your area. I have some very tropical areas and those have different honey flow seasons than my farming community areas. I also have different pests in different locations and I have to learn to manage those safely for the bees and the environment.
I find that you tube videos are helpful, but be careful about finding advice in your area. Your local bee clubs are a great resource. Christian and I belong to Tampa Bay Beekeepers Association. Attending conferences and listening to podcasts are also helpful. We have a GREAT resource coming out of Gainesville , from the bee college at UF. Dr. Jamie Ellis does a podcast called “Two Bees In a Podcast”.
Other than those suggestions, the BEST teachers are the bees themselves. Watch them, learn their patterns, What does a healthy hive look like, sound like, smell like? What are they doing at different times of the year? What is the best way to help them fight pests such as the Varroa mite? How do you utilize the products from the hive to help your fellow man?
Always learning, reading, studying the latest ideas is key! 
Contact Info:
- Website: Tampabees.com
- Instagram: Tampa_Bees
- Facebook: Tampa Bees
- Linkedin: Tampa Bees
- Etsy: Tampa Bees