Healthy. Handmade. Holistic.
How a Beekeeper in Arnaudville, Louisiana Turned One Hive into a Brand
In 2015, I watched a honey harvest and got completely hooked. Call it the bee bug. I got my first hive in 2016, and for the next three years I doubled it every year; one hive to many by 2019. I’ve learned most of what I know from other experienced beekeepers … the beekeeping community is remarkably generous. In 2021 I added a top-bar hive to the apiary.
I wasn’t experimenting anymore.
I was building something.
In 2018, I started selling my raw honey to friends and a local grocery store. In 2020 I dedicated myself to building a real business — expanding into beeswax skincare, gift sets, and everything you see in the shop today. I make the honey and most of the beeswax line myself, and I work with a small circle of local makers (a soapmaker, a confectioner, a freeze-dried candy specialist) to bring new products to the line.
Every recipe gets my approval before it goes to market. Last year I started selling at farmers markets for the first time.
For a beekeeper in Arnaudville, Louisiana, there’s no shortage of things worth making.
The product line has grown faster than the hives.
I’m always working on what comes next.
From the Garden to the Jar
Robin’s complete hive-to-product process — how everything on this site is made
Every O’Honey product starts the same way — our honeybee apiaries in Arnaudville, Louisiana. Here’s how raw wildflower honey and natural beeswax skincare make their way from the hive to your hands.
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The Source
Forage — The Bees Do the Work
My bees can travel 50 or more miles from our hives in Arnaudville, collecting nectar from wildflowers, clover, and native Louisiana plants. The specific mix of what they forage is what gives O’Honey raw wildflower honey its distinct flavor — seasonal, local, and impossible to replicate anywhere else. No two harvests taste exactly the same.
→ flavor profile determined here → Arnaudville terroir → seasonal variation
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The Hive
Hive Management — Robin’s Expertise
I manage a few hives using sustainable, chemical-free beekeeping methods. No pesticides, no chemical treatments — just careful monitoring of colony health and harvests timed to work with the bees rather than push them. Clean hive management means clean honey and clean beeswax. That matters for everything we make.
→ sustainable practices → chemical-free management → 10 years of expertise
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The Harvest — where honey and beeswax separate
Comb Uncapping & Honey Extraction
When the frames are ready, I uncap the honeycomb by hand. The wax cappings come off first — that’s pure beeswax from our own hives, and I collect every bit of it. What’s underneath is the honey. This is the moment where O’Honey’s two product lines begin.
⬡ Honey path
Extraction — frames are spun in a centrifugal extractor; raw honey flows out
Straining — passed through a coarse filter; leaves in natural pollen, propolis, and enzymes (no heat used)
Rest — honey settles in containers; air bubbles rise naturally
Bottled raw — unheated, unfiltered, exactly as it came from the hive → Raw Wildflower Honey jar
⬡ Beeswax path
Cappings collected — pure beeswax removed from honeycombs at uncapping
Cleaning — wax is melted, strained, and filtered to remove debris and residual honey
Raw beeswax blocks — cooled into blocks; pure, traceable, from Robin’s own colonies
Used as ingredient — goes into every beeswax product in the collection → balms, bars, soap
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Honey products
Raw Honey
The honey is strained through a coarse filter to remove debris — and nothing else. No heat, no over-filtering. Natural pollen, propolis, and enzymes stay in, exactly as the bees produced them. Raw, unfiltered Louisiana honey the way it’s meant to be.
→ Raw Wildflower Honey — 16 oz / 1 lb jar → O’Honey Pecans — 5 oz → Raw Louisiana Honeycomb — Seasonal (Aug–Nov)
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Beeswax products
The Beeswax Collection
The wax cappings are cleaned, melted down, and filtered into pure beeswax blocks — the base ingredient in every product in the O’Honey beeswax skincare line. Beeswax lip balm. Natural lotion bars. Beeswax cuticle balm. Natural paw balm. Beeswax sugar scrub bars. Handmade beeswax soap. The beeswax collection is the part of the line I’m most actively growing — there’s a lot more coming.
→ Handmade Beeswax Soap — 3 oz → Natural Beeswax Lip Balm → Natural Beeswax Lotion Bar — 1.3 oz → Beeswax Cuticle Cream — 1 oz → Beeswax Sugar Scrub Bar — Lavender · Eucalyptus · Honeysuckle → Pampered Paw Balm — 1.3 oz
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Final products
Packaged, Labeled & Ready — Arnaudville to Your Door
Every product is made in small batches, hand-labeled, and sold directly — at Louisiana farmers markets and through the O’Honey online shop. The Bee-Box gift sets bring both lines together: raw Louisiana honey and natural beeswax skincare, in one handcrafted gift box, from one beekeeper.
→ Small-batch production → Sold at farmers markets → Online shop → Bee-Box gift sets → Corporate & realtor closing gifts
Did you know?
In a typical year, many Louisiana beekeepers can lose one‑third to one‑half of their hives.
These losses happen for many reasons, including weather stress, pests, disease, and lack of consistent food sources.
Even with good care, Louisiana beekeepers often lose a significant number of hives each year and work to replace them.
Beekeeping in Louisiana means working with nature, and accepting that not every hive survives each season.
Check out what our hives make ☟
Featured products
Lip Balm
Price range: $5.00 through $7.00Lotion Bar
$6.00O’ Honey Soap
$8.00O’Honey, Honey!
$12.00Pampered Paw Balm
$5.00
