A Visit From Our Friend Mike Barry

Watch The Tour

Recently, the world-famous Mike Barry stopped by for a tour of our headquarters in Sioux Falls, SD. Mike was passing through South Dakota on vacation when he realized his KOA campground was just a seven-minute walk from our headquarters. 

We are always thrilled to talk shop with fellow beekeepers, so Matthew was happy to give Mike a behind-the-scenes tour of our facilities. We’re so glad you stopped by, Mike!

Mike Barry is the practical, hands-on beekeeper and content creator behind the popular YouTube channel, Mike Barry Bees. Known for his down-to-earth style and engaging vlog-style videos, Mike shares his daily apiary operations, equipment reviews, and hive management tips with a growing community of fellow bee enthusiasts.

And he does it the way that only Mike Barry knows how!

While we had to keep the cameras off for a few of our proprietary manufacturing processes, Mike got a firsthand look at the engineering and scale that goes into our products:

  • The Half Blind Dovetail Joint: We showed Mike how our woodenware mimics high-quality custom cabinetry. Our self-squaring half blind dovetail joints provide a stronger hold, more gluing surface, and less end-grain exposure to protect against rot and fungi.

  • Beefy Handles: We discussed our fully tapered box handles, designed specifically without a bottom lip to prevent rainwater from pooling and causing decay.

  • Precision Foundation: Mike checked out our plastics facility and resin silos. We explained how our chief engineer reverse-engineered natural comb to create foundation with the exact thin cell walls bees prefer, coated in pure, clean beeswax sourced right here in South Dakota from A.H. Meyer & Sons.

  • Propolis Research: We also caught up on the latest industry research surrounding our roughened Propola boxes and how natural propolis envelopes are proving to be a massive boost to a colony's immune system

We loved hosting Mike, and we appreciate him taking time out of his vacation to see us! If you are ever traveling down I-90 through Sioux Falls, don't just drive past! We hope you stop by for a tour.

You can watch Mike's full recap of his visit on the Mike Barry Bees YouTube channel.

Watch Here
Lisa Gossett