Welcome to our store! We're the Mullins family, and we're so glad you're shopping with us!
In 2015, David started keeping bees as a hobby with his dad, Roger. They attended a beekeeping class together and started with one hive each. A couple years later, we had 80 pints of honey and David set up a card table in a friend's yard and sold them all. Now Bee Great has a retail boutique called the Bee Great Marketplace in Churubusco, an online store, and we sell wholesale to approximately 30 stores, and we have shipped orders from our online store to every state in the USA!
In 2018, we started Bee Great as a business. We sold as a home-based vendor at local farmers markets. Then we licensed the business and rented the 4H kitchen in Columbia City, IN, where David was raised. Our plan was to sell local honey but do it online and hand deliver it to customer's doors, just like the old days when the milkman made home deliveries. We started the business as a plan towards retirement.
Then, David's position as a professor was eliminated at the local university in a downsizing move. At almost the same time, the COVID pandemic hit. Our loyal customers saved our fledgling business through the COVID shut down by placing online orders. We decided then to really make the business grow.
So, in 2021, we purchased the old orthodontist office at 107 McCoy Drive in Churubusco, IN, and remodeled it into the Bee Great Marketplace.
One side of the Marketplace is a beautiful boutique with one-of-a-kind honey bee themed décor, jewelry, and ever-changing premium honeys and beeswax skin care products. We make it our mission to always have something different in the marketplace. Every visit you'll find something new.
In 2022, we also opened a second retail store at the old General Electric Factory Complex, which is now known as Electric Works. Unfortunately, that location didn't work out, so we closed it and reconsidered the direction that Bee Great was taking. We really listened to what customers have been asking for, and we have really, really listened to the bees and realize that we are all about honeybee education, helping the bees, and making the best honey products anywhere!
We've grown from our first 100 lbs of honey that we sold in 2018 to almost 5 tons of honey sales in 2021, and we sold about 12 tons of honey 2023. We have about 70 now, and should produce about 2 tons of honey in 2024. We support other local beekeepers by purchasing their honey as well.
But, we are so much more than local honey! We produce award winning honeys. Both our Indiana Whiskey Barrel Honey and our Rum Barrel Honey were juried into the Indiana Artisans stores in Carmel, IN, and at the French Lick Resort. David is an Indiana Artisan for these honeys. He's also on the board of Indiana Artisan.
Bee Great Rum Barrel Honey placed 2nd in the International Flavor Awards competition out of over 9,000 entries! We think of ourselves as craft honey producers, much like premium vintners, distillers, and brewers of craft wines, liquors, and beers.
As a family, and a company, we value convenience. Too often, we found ourselves rushing to Walgreens at the last minute to find a quick gift for some occasion. So, we made the Bee Great Marketplace gift giving central! You can find unique gifts for everyone. You can also purchase one of our gift bags and fill it with items in the store and walk out ready to make any event special.
We still deliver right to your door. But, we also offer free shipping on orders of $75 or more if you live outside our delivery area. You can also order our honey coffee on Amazon! Who wouldn't love a gift box of Bee Great products? Perhaps a gift box of Indiana Whiskey Barrel Honey, Rum Barrel Honey, Bourbon Barrel Honey, and Tequila Barrel Honey? Did we mention we're more than honey? How about a gift box of our artisan soaps? Or, a gift bag of candies, honey sticks, beeswax hand lotions, and foot balm? Add a honey bee themed trinket, and you've got a gift in seconds that is sure to please, or your money back - guaranteed!
Yes, we've grown, but we still make everything in small batches by hand. (David and Gabi extracting honey in the garage before we became a business with a borrowed, hand-cranked honey extractor).
(The Bee Great Marketplace commercial kitchen with a 21 frame power extractor).
And, while David once made all the hives we used from the lumber cut from dead trees on his Dad's property, we are now a Dadant beekeeping supply dealer. We sell everything a beekeeper needs ranging from extractors, to feed, to beekeeping equipment, to bottles, and hives.
Everyone still helps in our family. Tammy designs the displays for our shows, and she manages all the honey bee themed products in our boutique. She even makes the arrangements by hand!
We've grown from David working alone to 4 team members and occasionally more temporary folks who help out. But, we are a company that puts family before profit. We bring our products to you with the purpose of bringing a little more happiness to the world. We're not your average local honey seller any more. We've grown, and we strive to make every item we carry something that you, your family, and your friends will enjoy. All the while, we're helping save the honey bee! What could be better than that?
This is Who We Are:
*We only sell the highest quality products.
*We're not some mega corporation that exploits workers and the environment.
*We care about our family and yours.
*We care about community. That's why we donate to local organizations.
Feel free to email us at info@BeeGreatLocal.com, or call David's cell at 260-229-8356. He'll be happy to answer any questions you have about our products and our business!
Bee Great. Good for you. Good for the planet.
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