Honey is one of the healthiest foods all over the world. All peoples want to us honey. Someone appears nearly weak, as though she’d break if you knocked into her due to her strawberry blonde hair, freckles, and little body. Although this dainty woman doesn’t seem like the sort to take risks, looks can be deceiving. Skove keeps bees for a living.
A 50-minute drive from Newark, Skove has been keeping honey bees at her Green Township residence for more than 25 years as a hobby. Skove first made only enough honey sticks for her own consumption and occasionally sold a few extra jars. What was once a hobby has transformed into a large-scale business enterprise over the past few years.
White Beekeeper Costume
Skove doesn’t wear gloves or the typical white beekeeper costume that you may imagine when you hear the name. She works her bees in shorts, a tank top, and Birkenstocks when the weather is beautiful. She occasionally covers her face and hair with a veil, but she doesn’t always do that; when the bees are relaxed, a ponytail would do.
In the counties of Sussex and Warren, you may purchase Skove’s raw honey and handcrafted beeswax goods from wholesale health stores and farm markets. Most of them are farm-related, according to Skove. “I don’t have any retail items. I don’t think I’m strong enough to manage such a supply commitment.” Skove fills orders for neighborhood companies as well as a large number of regular clients, who At least five phone calls a week from unrelated people who are sent to her, as well as visitors who call or visit to get their taste of honey.
Display Goods
At order to display her goods, Skove began hosting a three-day yearly open house in her home six years ago due to a significant increase in holiday traffic. Each year, she only serves 60 to 80 clients through her open house.
My mother discovered she didn’t have a name for herself when her business grew to the point where she needed business cards. Her Maryland-based brother made the observation that she was routinely referred to as the “honey lady” or the “bee lady” by clients who called or visited. Skove made the decision to persist with his strategy.
While the Honey Lady mainly works alone, she occasionally receives assistance from novice beekeepers who wish to gain knowledge and experience from an expert. “I also have a teacher friend who comes over to help me with equipment upkeep and occasionally rolls candles over the summer. She’ll visit me a few times this summer to assist me.” Around the winter holidays, when her order volume is at its maximum, Skove enlists the help of friends, neighbors, and family members.
This size of operation demands a lot of labor. The Honey Lady sells flavored honey, creamed honey, honey candy, honey sticks, honey with nuts, honey with dried fruit, raw (unprocessed, unheated, and unblended) honey, raw (unprocessed, unheated, and blended) honey, and, most recently, a line of beeswax-based cosmetics, including hand cream and lip balm.
Skove claims that her bees weren’t always such a significant aspect of her life. “When I was younger, if a bug got on me, I would cry uncontrollably. If someone had told me I would become a beekeeper, I never in a million years would have believed them. My parents would have never accepted it. I mean, when we first moved here, I didn’t even have a pair of pants, and now all I want to do is be outside.
Skove acknowledges that beekeeping has significantly altered her life, but she doesn’t think that starting a business and spending more time on something she enjoys has altered who she is as a person. “I’ve used beekeeping to express myself in different ways, but I’ve always been the same person. The person I used to be, in my opinion, was acting how I thought I ought to. She gives it some thought. “I’m now carrying out my purpose in life. I’ve finally found my life’s work.”
Conclusion
Skove can’t pinpoint a certain moment when she became cognizant of her interest for beekeeping. “My other commitments didn’t necessarily become less important, but I was aware that I needed to accomplish them as soon as possible. I maintained my priorities, but I never forgot that if I finished them, I could treat myself to doing bees.”
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