Today we’d like to introduce you to Ben Baecker
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
About 10 years ago I had a friend ask me to help with a removal of a beehive from a lady’s attic. He needed a small but nimble guy and I fit that bill. After that removal, I was completely hooked on beekeeping. I started my own hive on my parents property from a hive I removed from a water meter and continued to care for it there.
I ended up doing some international ministry work, and finding beekeepers all around the world. It was really amazing to see how God used bees to help me meet so many amazing people. I traveled through out Central America and Asia for a year and was able to see different beekeepers in different situations.
After that mission trip I landed myself in Hawaii for a few years. I continued doing removals and keeping bees. Let me just say keeping bees in Hawaii is such a treat! Those are some happy bees over there. I was able to learn a lot from one old beekeeper that really took me under his wing. He was exactly what you think of when you think of an old hippy beekeeper from Hawaii. He taught me so much, and I will be forever thankful. Those years in Hawaii really change my life and the bees played a big part of that.
After a few years in Hawaii, I ended up moving back here to Central Texas, and getting married. My wife absolutely loved the bees, but didn’t love how much time that was being taken away from the home with me beekeeping. After the birth of our first son she sweetly suggested that I either slow down or try to make bees into a business. That sounded like an excellent idea! So we ended up buying 10 1/2 acres in the small town that I grew up in. And now we have a bee removal business, and an agricultural business, where we help keep bees on other peoples property to help with tax agricultural exemptions.
We decided to name our bee farm, Respite Bee Farm because we take bees from locations that are unsafe for people and unsafe for the bees then relocate them on our farm where they can be the best honeybees around. We’re surrounded by a regenerative farm, so our bees are able to have some of the highest quality native plants.
We have big plans for an our farm and the bees moving forward. This year we’ve started the bee internship where we take our students through the busiest time of year for the bees (March- September) and in the end they get to take onto there property their own bee hive. We’re already full for the first cohort but if there are more to sign up, we will start another the end of March!
Beekeeping has been such a blessing for me. Really, I’m not the man I would be without the bees. I am so thankful for these amazing little ladies.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Oh man! I wish the road had been smooth!
No, like everything in life there’s so many ups and downs. There’s a lot of heartache in beekeeping. I’ve lost strong hives to freak storms, strong winds, and them simply getting sick.
I always tell people that being a beekeeper is the most expensive way to get honey. The first few years in Texas I barely got enough honey from the bees to last the year. Bees are hard workers, but Texas has been in a drought that affects the flower population which in turns hurts the bees. They can be sensitive to pesticides and development as well. All of that change affects the flower growth. And of course without flowers the bees can’t make honey so that hurts them.
It can be very frustrating to work so hard on the bees just to see them struggle so much.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Because we remove bees and relocate them, we kind of see ourselves as a bee sanctuary. When we remove bees, we try our best to keep them all intact. We truly want to take care of these bees and give them the best life possible here on our farm. Hence the name Respite Bee Farm. We take bees from places where they are unsafe, or causing people to be unsafe and bring them to the Texas Prairie. Here we keep them on our Little farm. But it’s surrounded by a much bigger ranch that is a regenerative sheep farm. So the bees have a lot of space to work and produce some of the best honey that they can.
One of the things I’m most proud of on our property other than the bees is our house. We rebuilt an old farmhouse that we moved onto our property. I was able to put in a lot of time and effort to create a house that is a one of a kind.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
Instagram and our website is the best place to fine me and the bees
Contact Info:
- Website: https://respitebeefarm.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/respitebeefarm/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093132053942
