Talking With the Beekeeping Today Podcast
We recently welcomed Beekeeping Today Podcast host Jeff Ott to our headquarters in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Jeff described our shop as feeling less like a traditional apiary supplier and more like a high-tech "Santa's Workshop". We loved it!
In our conversation, we covered:
Engineering Freedom - During his tour, our founder, Jeff Johnson, shared how Premier Bee Products is rethinking hive bodies, foundation, and frames from the ground up. Because we started manufacturing woodenware just four years ago, we had a clean slate. This meant we weren’t limited to fitting designs into machinery constraints. The sky was the limit and so we studied how the bees design their homes.
Our Bee Designers - When we developed our Puracell foundation, we spent nearly three years refining the cell dimensions based entirely on what the bees naturally preferred. We let the bees dictate the design, and forced our human engineers to figure out how to manufacture it at scale.
The Propolis Hive - This bee-first philosophy is also behind our Propola Hive. Inspired by Dr. Marla Spivak’s research at the University of Minnesota, we designed a hive box with roughened interior walls. It mimics the inside of a tree, encouraging bees to build an antimicrobial propolis envelope that naturally boosts colony health.
Bill’s Legacy Lid - we showed Jeff that not every great idea starts in our shop. We’re incredibly proud to sell the heavy-duty "Legacy Lid," designed by our friends Bill and Tammy George at Crooked Hill Beekeeping in Missouri. Just like its name, this lid will last for generations.
A huge thank you to Jeff Ott and his brother for visiting and letting us share our story.