HMSBeekeeper Blog

Goodnight, and good luck

Thu, 1 Jul 2010 12:53:39 -0700

I’m going to be closing the store and going back into tech within the next two months. Since opening day the business has been wonderful fun and profitable. You have all been amazing customers, and I’ve enjoyed working with you. During the time the store has been open, we’ve taught over 300 students, and sold over 500 beehives. I’ve been to your homes and we’ve looked inside of each other’s beehives. It’s been awesome.

There are two main reasons for the closure of the store. The first is that my sublease is up in two months and the rent would increase dramatically after that point. The second reason is that I’ve worked here by myself for over a year now, and I’m not entirely happy with working in retail. I miss working with other people on solving creative technical problems. I’ve thought about just hiring someone to work at the store while I work elsewhere, but it just doesn’t make sense with the rent increase and other fees associated with hiring a full-time employee.

I have been a proud member of the Mission District community for the past year and thank each and every customer for supporting my store and making me a part of your family. Please stop by in the next two months so we may say goodbye and so you can take advantage of our closing sale. There are lots of beautiful things for the holidays and of course we will still be selling local honey. We will be packing boxes on the 16th with the remaining merchandise to be donated to my non-profit, San Francisco Bee-Cause. I hope that I can continue to help introduce as many people as possible to beekeeping.

Thanks, San Francisco!

One million bees and some cello!

Thu, 8 Apr 2010 17:50:40 -0700

Ever wondered what a million honeybees would smell, sound, and look like? This is the day when you can do that. This Sunday, April 11th, from Noon - 2pm is "bee package pickup day", when everyone picks up their boxes of bees and puts them into their hives and becomes a real beekeeper at last.

We'll have door prizes for people that wear bee-related costumes, live cello performances by Unwoman, and random cool specials.

It will definitely be a once in a lifetime experience, and you should come!

RSVP on Facebook

March is a-buzz!

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:00:26 -0800

It's been busy here at the store since I last emailed. We've sold about 75 hives, and many many packages of bees. In the meantime, we've also stepped up with a few non-beekeeping products I am positive you'll love.

Metaphor Organics Cosmetics
These products are made for our store, and are all made of Almond oil, beeswax, and water, and one has an added fragrance. And that's it. No other ingredients. Somehow, these simple lotions, balms, and scrubs have astonishing smells, textures, and softness. Come in and try the honeysuckle lotion or check out the thick "Bees Knees" hand lotion. They are amazing.

One Gallon Mead Making Kit
We now sell one gallon mead making kits which include absolutely everything you need including yeast, carboys, airlock, and the chemicals you need to succeed. All you need to do is add honey! We also have bulk honey available for mead making, including the highly praised but rarely seen Meadowfoam honey. The kit is only $70!

Dahlia Candles
We also have a whole new line of our Dahlia candles ready for spring in carrot-orange, natural, and our best-selling mauve.

New HMSB T-Shirts and Mugs
By popular request, we finally have t-shirts and mugs in stock with our logo and mural art on them. Come check them out!

French Honey
We now have french honeys available like Lavender, Acacia, and Chestnut. Come in and ask for a taste.

New Cards
If you need gift cards, we now have our own card designed by a local artist, Meredith Scheff. Perfect for including with a small jar of honey.

Finally, with regard to beekeeping:

Bee Packages are still $85, and we'll be accepting your orders until March 25th. After that point, Package bees will be $100 dollars per package until April 11th.

We also have many more classes scheduled! We have a how-to package installation class, a class that will teach you to go into a hive and learn how to inspect a hive, as well as a more intense classroom class studying bee hive anatomy. Some of these classes have a limit of 6 participants, so sign up soon!

We're going to be scheduling our non-beekeeping classes soon, to start in May. I'd love to hear from you. Are you interested in Meadmaking? What about crafting your own balms and salves? How about candle or soap making? Let me know!

-Cameo Wood
Proprietrix and Her Majesty's Secret Beekeeper

February update! Buy your hives and bees!

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 13:57:33 -0800

Quick purchasing links for pre-buying your equipment and bees for in-store pickup:
English Garden Hive Starter Kit: $200
Three Pounds of Bees & Mated Italian Queen: $85

Just this past weekend saw 4 pallets of beekeeping equipment come into our store. Now the air smells spicy with the smell of fresh cut cypress, and the copper roofs of the hives sparkle in the sunshine. Come in and take a look at our beautiful new 8-frame hives with all the accessories. We also have Kim Flottum's latest edition of "The Backyard Beekeeper" with a section on Urban Beekeeping which is fantastic. We'll also be taking orders for 3lb boxes of Italians with queen for $85 starting today at our online store. Our next two beginning beekeeping classes are on February 27th and 28th. You can still sign up for them here. If you missed the urban beekeeping webinar, you can still view it on video.

In addition to hives, we also have manipulation cloths for working your hive, stickers encouraging others to save the bees, caution signs for your bee yard, Liquid Bee Smoke, new hatless veils for men and women, DVDs for the garden hive and mead making, and a new Honeybee Disease book.

If beekeeping isn't your thing, there are two very special items at the store which I am very excited about. We have 8 beautiful handmade copper and bronze bells covered in bees and honeycomb patterns that were made by a friend of Yuki's (the store's awesome friend from Japan that made the honey-filled glass sculptures here in the store). These bells can be put on your keys or on your person, and are beautiful to behold.

We also have meadowfoam honey in buckets for mead or in 9oz jars for sipping. This delicious honey tastes like marshmallows and burnt sugar, and should definitely be experienced.

Local artist Meredith Scheff-King just designed pretty new gift cards for us! They are available at the store with a pretty envelope for $2 each!

So come stop by the store and check out all the new items! I look forward to seeing you soon.

-Cameo Wood
Proprietrix and Her Majesty's Secret Beekeeper

Thank you for a great 2009

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 15:02:01 -0800

We’ll be open this Monday and Tuesday from Noon-7pm (Dec 21st and 22nd) so that you last-minute gift buyers will have the opportunity to visit! We’ll be open from Noon-7pm on those days, so please come visit! We’ll be closed from December 23rd - 30th.

Last Minute Gift Ideas!
First I just wanted to mention a few cool things that we have in the store here for gifts:

We just got in an handsome handmade skin-care kit designed for us and made with our local honey and other locally sourced ingredients. Our kits come with:
• Honey Cream Cleanser
• Honey Rose & Lavender Balancer
• Honey Monoi Skin Drencher
• Anti-Oxidant Nourishing Oil

These kits smell amazing and are made by a local SF Mission based Esthetician, Monica Fine of Shalom Organics. These are highly recommended. Come in and try them!

For those that are crafty - we have two DIY kits for those of you that want to give something handmade this year:

DIY Rolled Beeswax Candle Kit - $35
Make up to 30 rolled candles! Includes 15 8 1/2” x 16 7/8” sheets of pure unadulterated beeswax sheets, 30 feet of cotton wicking, a 1 oz. bar of pure beeswax, and clear instructions on how to make a perfect rolled beeswax candle.

DIY Lip Balm Kit - $35
Makes at least 25 organic lip balms. Includes almond oil, shea butter, beeswax, vitamin E oil, tubes, labels, instructions, 4 essential oils, and clear instructions on how to make perfect lip balms!

We also have lotion gift packs, and beautiful locally-sourced gift boxes ranging in price from $10 to $150.

Our first six months have been pretty interesting and eye opening. I’ve learned that I need to have a LOT of beekeeping suits on hand for Halloween (we sold over 40!), that people love DIY kits for xmas, and that keeping everything in stock all the time is pretty darn hard! That said, it’s been a great six months, and I’ve really enjoyed meeting everyone and helping people get into beekeeping!

Our classes have also been pretty great and unexpectedly popular. The beekeeping classes have been the most popular, followed by the Mead Classes. We had a couple unfortunate class cancellations, but overall, our events have been awesome and flawless.

In the next month or so, we’ll be taking pre-orders for beehives, bee packages, nucleus hives, and announcing our first beekeeping classes of the year.

In closing, I’d just like to thank everyone for a great 2009, and I look forward to seeing your bee-loving faces in 2010!