“She’s as busy as a bee!” It’s a common expression, one that describes a person who loves doing a thousand things at once. And yes, bees are known for their work ethic and the delectable result of their labor – there’s nothing more delicious than a dollop of honey on a piece of toast or eaten straight off the spoon.
Yet for Marisa Papetti, owner of Marie’s Bees and self-described honeybee wrangler, her hives are so much more than sites of hyper-productivity. They’re also – perhaps surprisingly, to those who aren’t beekeepers – places to relax and find peace, as well as build community.
Papetti is a beekeeper who also sells and distributes honey and honey-based products as Marie’s Bees. Three of her honey products – Honey and Hazelnuts, Honey Zinger, and plain raw honey – are finalists for the Good Food Awards, aka the Oscars of the food world.
But for her, the bees are more than a business. She is a Certified Beekeeper working towards her Journeyman status. “It’s an extremely labor-intensive business,” she says. “But it also has its luxurious moments. Honeybee hives smell like warm honey and beeswax, plus watching the bees never gets old.”
