Change Your Life: Launching a Business Selling Honey Like Fine Wine

When Marina Marchese visited a bee-keeper because she was illustrating a queen bee for a greeting card, she had no idea that the experience would change her life. "As I put on a bee-keeper's veil, I wondered what I was getting into," she says. "When the bee keeper opened the hive, there were bees all over the place. But they were docile, even friendly. He held the frame of honey with his bare hand."

When Marchese stuck her finger in to taste the honey, she was mesmerized. "It's so delicious, so fresh, clean, crisp. It comes out of the hive ready to eat. You don't have to boil or pasteurize it." She set up her first hive that year.

Unhappy at Work, Ripe for a Challenge

Marina's aha moment came at a critical time. She had worked in New York for two China-based start-ups. Both went belly up, so she was casting about for something to do. Meantime, her original career as an illustrator and textile designer had lost steam after September 11. "I was ready to dive into something," she says. "I joined the local bee club. Now bee-keeping is really popular, but back then it was offbeat." One hive became three, three became 10. Now she has 16.

She began to sell her honey at farmers' markets. "I put it in gorgeous bottles. In Italy, honey is sold like fine wine. Here it's a condiment like catsup." At first business was slow, but ultimately her upscale approach paid off. "A woman kept coming to my table. At the end of the market her husband asked whether I would wholesale honeycomb and deliver it to New York. When he took out his credit card, it was for the Four Seasons restaurant. The farm-to-table chef became my customer – someone who wants something fresh and artisanal and local."

An Empire of Honey: Expanding Beyond Farm Markets

Marina knew she'd never make a living just selling at farm markets, so she began exploring ways to broaden her business. She conducted tastings at festivals. "I'd pour four or five honeys into white bowls so you could see the color differences. I'd put goat cheese on bread and drizzle it with honey – tupelo, blueberry blossom. People's faces would light up." A food blogger said if Marina did a tasting in her garden, she'd fill the seats. Marina offered a tour of her hives, a talk about honey and a sit-down tasting. "People like to go to the source," she says.

She has a line of skin care that is honey based, and she buys and bottles honey from other bee keepers – alfalfa, clover, apple blossom, buckwheat. In 2009, her book came out, published by Workman Press: Honeybee Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper. She does book signings and lectures with tastings.
 

"I'm setting up a nonprofit, American Honey Tasting Society, which will institute criteria for naming honeys by their floral source, how to judge honeys, and create a honey-tasting vocabulary. My mission is to elevate honey to same level as fine wine or tea or chocolate."

Honoring Her Creative Spirit

Why honey? "Everybody likes something sweet. These magical creatures just make it." Marina thrives in her new life. "When I was working for those start-ups, I was crying on the train going to New York City. I knew in my heart that I was meant to do something else. I made a commitment to myself to do what I do in the most artistic way I know how. I'm honoring my creative spirit."

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