Human Interest - Bensalem Township
SCORE Mentor Boosts Buzz for Honey Business
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 health care co-workers and at local events.
For a year and a half, the mother-daughter duo continued nursing and running Jamison-based Backyard Buzz part-time.
“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 health care roles behind to primarily focus on their honey-making business.
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.
Nikki of Backyard Buzz
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.”
About SCORE
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.
Cops, Courts & Fire -Bensalem Township
NJ Man Has Aggravated Assault Charges of Police Held Over for Trial
Human Interest - Bensalem Township
Pig Iron’s Franklin’s Key Returns This Summer to Light Up Philly’s 250th
-
Cops, Courts & Fire -Bristol Township4 weeks agoMan Charged For Murdering Girlfriend in Oaktree Section Of Levittown
-
Cops, Courts & Fire -Falls Township3 weeks agoFairless Hill Man Arrested on False Imprisonment, Aggravated Assault Charges After Text Breakup
-
Breaking News - Bristol Township4 weeks agoCops: Death Investigation Going On in Oaktree Section of Levittown at Home Just Put Up for Sale
-
Human Interest - Bensalem Township3 weeks agoNearby: 67 Year-Old Levittown Woman Charged for Threatening SEPTA Bus Passengers, Racially Incendiary Remarks
-
Cops, Courts & Fire -Bristol Township4 weeks agoCroydon Burglary Thwarted by 11 Year-Olds Call for Help
-
Cops, Courts & Fire -Bristol Borough6 days agoBristol Borough Fire Chiefs Statement on Dorrance Street Fire
-
Breaking News - Bensalem Township3 weeks agoPredator Poachers Nab Philly Man Allegedly Seeking Sex with 11 Year-Old in Bensalem
-
Breaking News - Bristol Borough7 days agoUpdated: Three-Alarm Fire in Bristol Borough Under Investigation