Honey business creates a 'buzz' with the help of Bucks SCORE

Perhaps it was the nurturing nature of two nurses, or just a serious sweet tooth that got one mother-daughter duo to start a business that is now creating quite the “buzz” throughout Bucks County.

While working as nurses at Hahnemann Hospital in Philadelphia, mother and daughter, Karen Zebrowski and Nikki Zebrowski-Beck began a sweet side business making and selling honey to their healthcare co-workers and occasionally at local events.

For a year-and-a-half, the duo continued work in nursing while also running Jamison-based Backyard Buzz part-time. The juggling soon became more than they could bare.

“She couldn’t keep up with the demand,” Zebrowski said of her daughter, a beekeeper of nine years, who has since become a Cornell-Certified Beekeeper and Certified Pollinator Steward.

By 2021, the entrepreneurs had left their healthcare roles behind to primarily focus on their honey-making business.

    Photo courtesy of Katalinas Communications
According to the Mayo Clinic, studies have shown that honey can have a number of medicinal benefits, assisting with cardiovascular disease, as antioxidants in honey “might be associated with reduced risk of heart disease.”

Other benefits, according to the Clinic, can include:

• Cough: Honey can work as a reliable cough suppressant and be helpful with upper respiratory infections and acute nighttime coughing.
• Gastrointestinal disease: Honey may help to relieve conditions like diarrhea associated with gastroenteritis. It may also help in oral rehydration therapy.
• Neurological disease: Studies have shown that honey may offer antidepressant, anticonvulsant, and antianxiety benefits. It may also help prevent memory disorders.
• Wound care: Topical uses of honey have shown to promote wound healing, especially on burns.

According to a study in the National Library of Medicine, honey, especially from a local area, can help to control seasonal allergies, especially rhinitis.

Recognizing the need to produce more honey and expand online sales, the business owners began collaborating with SCORE Bucks County mentor, Kathleen Donohue in 2021.

“Kathleen is amazing,” Zebrowski said. “She helped us figure out the value and worth of our products.”

Their mentor guided the entrepreneurs in realizing that their honey is an “indulgence” and a “luxury product” and assisted them in pricing their items accordingly, Zebrowski said.

Donohue is also helping Backyard Buzz boost its online sales.

“They’ve also been building their online business and using their personal retail ventures to increase their email lists,” she said. “Today their products are in demand by some local restaurants who feature their products on their menus as well as offer them for sale.”

In addition to selling online and at Warrington Farmers Market, Backyard Buzz items are available at Meadowlark Bakery & Café in Warminster, JustFood in Buckingham, The Craft Hive Honey House in Pipersville and at Unriven in Sellersville.

Part of their business expansion is moving beyond the honeycomb to continue creating other products from beeswax and honey, including beeswax luminaries, various bath and beauty products and their top-selling honey lollipops, honey cotton candy and chocolate-covered creamed honey confections.

“There are other honey companies, and we like to differentiate our business in the industry by offering unique products,” Zebrowski said.

Another way the company stands out is its certification as a PA Preferred business. Honey extracting is undertaken in a kitchen certified by the Department of Agriculture. 

The pair’s passion for pollinators is evident in the company’s unique pollinator-inspired art, as well as pollinator boxes for backyards. Looking ahead to 2025 and beyond, Beck would like to focus more on education and pollination services.

“Not many people know about our important native pollinators, so we offer education and native bee box pollination services,” Zebrowski-Beck said. “You don’t have to worry about a beehive that has to be managed. The little pollinator box is little maintenance, which we do anyway.”

Zebrowski-Beck manages 15 beehives throughout Bucks County but hopes to set up hives in more area backyards to grow their honey production.

“I operate the beehives a little bit differently than the way traditional honey companies do,” Zebrowski-Beck said of her smaller beehives, which help with pests and diseases overwhelming the beehive.

On average, a beehive produces 30 to 50 pounds of honey during spring and summer months, she said, noting that their growth plan hinges on adding more beehives.

“We’re always looking for homeowners interested in having honeybees on their property,” Zebrowski said. “Nikki gets everybody involved. She sends them photos and tells them what’s going on. It’s really fun when there’s a family and the kids are really interested.”

Since 1964, SCORE has helped more than 11 million aspiring entrepreneurs. Each year, SCORE provides small business mentoring and workshops to more than 375,000 new and growing small businesses. With more than 70 members across Bucks and Eastern Montgomery counties, SCORE Bucks County provides over 4,300 free mentoring services annually to local small business owners through one on-one counseling and small business seminars. To stay up to date on news and happenings, join SCORE Bucks County’s email list. Text SCOREBUCKS to 22828.

To learn more about Backyard Buzz or to order local honey online, visit https://www.backyardbuzzpa.com/#/.