Honey & Bees
The enchantment of bees is not only that they are incredible architects of and honey, but guardians of life itself.
Start Your Beekeeping Journey
Being with the bees slows us down. It’s a sensory experience to smell, hear, taste, and touch the bees. Simply suiting up, lighting the smoker, and being with them is an unforgettable experience.
1. Get support starting Your Own Apiary: Learn hands-on by getting your own bees and setting up a hive in your yard. START HERE.
2. Adopt a Hive: Take online classes and support rescue bees by adopting a hive that we care for at our apiary. ADOPT HERE.
3. Hive Rentals: Rent bees for your property, enjoy the benefits of pollination, and even qualify for a tax credit. LEARN MORE HERE.
Hacienda Harelik Honey
Our main apiary is set on 200 acres in Callahan county. We manage additional bee yards in Taylor county.
Forage: cotton, mesquite, wild plum, hairy vetch, plantain, yarrow, oak.
Management area: Abilene, Buffalo Gap, Tuscola, Merkel, Cisco, Cross Plains, Eastland
Our mission is simple: to nurture healthy bees, enrich our soil with pollination services, produce truly organic, small-batch honey and wax products that are free from chemicals, and inspire others to embrace natural beekeeping.
How It All Began
My beekeeping journey started in 2019 with an interest in regenerative agriculture. Like many new beekeepers, I was eager to learn as much as possible. I took apprenticeships, volunteered, held leadership positions in local bee clubs, and went to all the conferences. Then the exciting time came to order bees and establish our apiary. However, a tough lesson was soon learned—our supplier had chemically treated the bees, which although common in the industry, was something our family did not align with.
It was heartbreaking to find a large number of dead bees when we first inspected the colonies. Suspecting contamination, we sent samples of the bees and wax to Cornell University for testing. The results confirmed our concern: the bees and wax were laden with chemicals that they could not sustain. While this was a difficult start, it strengthened a commitment to keeping bees as naturally as possible and helping others avoid similar experiences.
The Bee’s Teach a First Lesson: Power of Community
Despite our early setbacks, the beekeeping community rallied around us. A generous local beekeeper sold us a thriving, untreated colony from a local hive removal, helping us rebuild. We then combined the surviving bees from our original hives with this strong, resilient stock. Soon after, we welcomed two more colonies from a neighbor’s hive removal, allowing us to establish an apiary built entirely from local bees with feral genetics. I learned that many people wanted to support bees without wanting to keep bees – so this is when the adopt-a-hive membership was founded.
Growth
In December of 2024, I was approached by some friends about combining their business with my apiary to expand my service area. Of course the answer was yes! Again, by the power of community we worked together to support the bees through the worst honey bee decline to date. While several of our commercial beekeeper friends had losses of 70-100%, we came out much luckier. This is when local beekeeping supporting local pollination services became even more important. Hacienda Harelik Honey launched an online store, and began offering management services to people seeking ag exemptions and support keeping bees on their land.
Today, I share beekeeping knowledge through workshops, tours, and mentorship programs. Our customers report that our raw, TEXAS honey and lavender peppermint lip balm are the best they’ve ever had. If the bees are calling you, and I can help – I look forward to connecting with you.
