Honey-B-Healthy, Inc. is a family-owned and operated small business.
Honey B Healthy® was first introduced in 2000, with the intent of helping beekeepers maintain healthy and productive honey bee colonies.
Since the introduction of Honey B Healthy® to the market, we’ve received positive feedback from many of the Nation’s largest beekeepers that their hives are healthier and better protected for maximum honey production and pollination of food crops.
All Honey B Healthy® products are made in the USA using a special proprietary process with the highest quality ingredients available. The products contain certified organic ingredients and are produced in a FDA-Registered State-of-the-art facility under the strict cGMP guidelines.
Honey-B-Healthy, Inc.’s mission is to serve, fulfill, and thrill our customers! We are grateful to our strong customer base for their dedication as we expand our nutritional feed supplements.
Bob’s Summary
In June 1995, the varroa mites were decimating my hives and I was at a loss. While visiting my sister, Marlene, we discussed my troubled hives. Marlene was a nurse and had knowledge of Chemistry and various types of treatments. I was searching for a solution to control the mites that didn’t include harsh chemicals. As Marlene and I talked through what I had tried, she reached into the cupboard and pulled out the only bottle of essential oil she possessed – wintergreen oil. She told me, “this will work but you need to figure out how to use it.”
Shortly after our visit, I started working with the wintergreen – testing ratios with sugar water. I soaked a dying hive with 1:1 sugar water and approximately 2cc’s of wintergreen oil. The next day, I found the bees calmer. I pulled a frame of brood and saw deformed bees hatching covered with mites. As I watched, I had an epiphany – if such a strong dose improved colony health, then a reduced dose fed to the bees may help keep them healthy. It was then that I began to feed a small amount of wintergreen to three hives.
To my amazement, in early August, I began to see healthy bees hatch, even with the presence of varroa mites. I witnessed hundreds of bees hatch in the three original treatment hives, despite the presence of varroa mites. Ecstatic, I called Marlene and shared my findings. She advised me to contact West Virginia University to share what I learned. Two days later, I got a call from James Amrine, Ph.D., Entomology to discuss my findings. Dr. Amrine and I have worked together on various treatment methods and research studies, and our relationship continues to this day.
In 1997, I wrote a letter to the editor of the American Bee Journal about my essential oils treatment and gave consideration to having my product manufactured on a commercial scale. After three years of testing my Honey B Healthy® formula for use in an industrial setting, I launched Honey-B-Healthy, Inc. with the support of my wife, Bonnie, in 2000.
Our feeding supplements boost the immune system of the bees, allowing them to fight against many of the problems they face today. Our focus is helping the honeybee population to thrive, and we continue to improve our supplements to accomplish that. We have a passion for helping beekeepers maintain healthy hives and look forward to seeing what the future holds.