10 years after opening, Bee Bum continues goal of providing fresh local honey

BEATRICE, NEB. - Not every art form involves a paintbrush and a canvas - some involve bugs and boxes.

Such is the case for the Bee Bum Bee Farm just east of Beatrice. Kevin and Julie Monfelt’s journey began in 2014.

“Kevin called me and said we got a bee hive, I said ‘Can we do that?’ And we did and it’s grown from there,” Monfelt said.

Bee Bum now holds 300 hives, as the Monfelt’s produce a number of different honey’s and honey products. This year alone, they'll harvest upwards of 6500 pounds of honey.

Kevin Monfelt says he truly believes bee keeping to be an art form.

“It’s like painting a picture,” Monfelt said. “Every artist is going to have a little different portrayal, no matter if they’re painting the same thing, it’ll look a little different. Same with bee keeping… You can ask 10 beekeepers the same questions and get 100 different responses.”

Bee Bum products are sold locally at area farmers markets, including Beatrice, Tecumseh, and Humboldt. They also encourage using local products over ones at a box store because it’s more fresh, but also made closer to home.

“Those products come to the United States very adulterated,” Monfelt said. “They’re made with corn syrup and they’re not actually pure honey. When you’re buying locally, you’re not only supporting those people who make that product, but you’re getting the real deal.”

2024 is a special year for Bee Bum as they celebrate 10 years in business. The Monfelt’s say the last decade has provided time for growth and learning, but they’ve always maintained the goal of providing southeast Nebraska with fresh, local honey.

“The packaging and the quality of the product have definetley evolved,” Kevin Monfelt said. “We’re a lot more conscience about what we put in our products. Making sure our end users are getting the very best.”

“We started out making a couple gallons at a time, which was plenty, now we’re making a five gallon bucket at a time and that’s lucky to last us a week or two,” Julie Monfelt said.

Bee Bum is located at 6696 East US Hwy 136, Beatrice, NE.