Meet Eve Chrisman of Chrisman Apiaries

Today we’d like to introduce you to Eve Chrisman.

Hi Eve , thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Chrisman Apiaries originally started with my husband, Cy, about three years before we met. He was completely self-taught and learned beekeeping through hands-on experience, research, trial and error, and simply spending a lot of time working with the bees. He built his knowledge from the ground up and taught himself everything from hive management and bee behavior to harvesting honey and understanding the different seasons and floral sources. What started as a personal interest became something he was incredibly passionate about.

When I came along, I immediately saw how special what he was doing was and how much potential there was to turn it into something bigger. I started beekeeping alongside him, and it quickly became something we both genuinely loved doing together. At the same time, I brought in more of my own background and interests in business, branding, marketing, photography, and the creative side of things. Cy had already built such a strong foundation with the bees and the honey itself, and I helped build the visual identity and business side around what he had created.

Once we started combining those two sides, things grew very quickly. We completely changed the way we presented the business, put more focus into our branding and photography, and started showing people not only the honey, but the story behind it. We wanted Chrisman Apiaries to feel personal and recognizable, while still staying rooted in real beekeeping and a genuinely high-quality product.

The response was much faster than we expected. We started gaining loyal customers very quickly, and Chrisman Apiaries became well known in the communities and farmers markets we were part of. A lot of our growth has come through word of mouth. People try our honey, come back, bring friends or family, and tell other people about us. We have customers who look for us specifically and who are genuinely excited when we bring in a new honey variety or harvest. That kind of support has meant a lot to both of us.

One thing that is especially important to us is that Chrisman Apiaries really is just the two of us. There is not a large team behind the scenes. Cy and I work together on every part of the business. We both work the bees, care for the colonies, harvest honey, bottle and prepare products, attend markets, talk with customers, handle the day-to-day business, and make decisions together. There are a lot of long days and a lot of work involved, but having each other makes it possible.

Our teamwork is probably one of the biggest reasons the business has grown the way it has. We have different strengths, but they complement each other really well. Cy has years of self-taught beekeeping knowledge and an incredible understanding of the bees, and I brought another layer to the business through branding, photography, marketing, and customer experience. At the same time, neither of us is limited to just one role. We both get our hands dirty, we both work the hives, and we both care deeply about the quality of what we put out.

Today, Chrisman Apiaries is a small, family-run California honey business built around completely raw honey, hands-on beekeeping, and a very personal connection with our customers. We love showing people how different real honey can be depending on where the bees are located and what they are foraging on. Different varieties can have completely different colors, textures, aromas, and tasting notes, and we love watching customers discover that for the first time.

What has been most rewarding is seeing how much people have connected not only with our honey, but with us. Our customers know who we are. They ask about the bees, they remember different varieties they have tried, and many of them have been incredibly supportive of our growth. We have built real relationships with people through this business, and that is something we never want to lose.

Chrisman Apiaries has grown faster than either of us originally expected, but at its core, it is still exactly what it started as: two people who genuinely love bees, love beekeeping, and love creating something together. Seeing something Cy started on his own turn into a business that we now both pour so much of ourselves into has been incredibly rewarding, and we are very proud of what we have built together.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. One of the hardest setbacks we faced happened last year when the Chinese Camp fire had a major impact on our bees. We lost a large number of colonies, and it set us back significantly both emotionally and as a business.

The loss wasn’t just about the bees themselves. Losing that many colonies also meant losing future honey production and having to put time and money into rebuilding what we had spent years growing. Beekeeping already requires a lot of patience because you’re working around weather, bloom seasons, forage, and the health of the colonies, so a major event like a wildfire can affect much more than just one season.

It was especially hard because we genuinely care about our bees. We spend so much time working with the colonies, watching them grow, and learning their behavior, so seeing so many of them lost was heartbreaking. Afterward, we had to keep running the business while also focusing heavily on rebuilding our apiaries.

The fire also gave us an entirely new appreciation for how closely beekeeping is connected to the land. When an area burns, it doesn’t only affect the hives — it can change the flowers and forage available to the bees for a long time afterward.

Recovering has taken a lot of work, patience, and persistence. It was a major setback for us, but it also strengthened our commitment to Chrisman Apiaries. We’ve had to learn how to adapt, rebuild, and keep moving forward even when circumstances are completely outside of our control.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Chrisman Apiaries is a family-run beekeeping and raw honey business based in California. At the heart of what we do is a genuine love for beekeeping and a desire to give people honey that is as close to the hive as possible.

We specialize in completely raw honey and unique California honey varieties. One of the things we love most about honey is that it can taste completely different depending on where the bees are located, what is blooming, and the time of year. A jar of honey can have floral, fruity, herbal, smoky, or even vanilla-like notes without anything ever being added to it. We really enjoy introducing people to that side of honey and showing them that it is so much more diverse than most people realize.

What sets us apart is how hands-on we are with the entire process. We are not simply a honey brand purchasing a finished product and putting our label on it. We are beekeepers ourselves. We work the hives, care for the colonies, harvest the honey, bottle it, and then get to meet many of the people who eventually take those jars home. That connection from the hive all the way to the customer is extremely important to us.

We are also very intentional about keeping our honey raw and allowing each harvest to retain its natural character. Honey can vary in color, flavor, texture, and even crystallization depending on the variety, and we see those differences as something worth celebrating rather than trying to make every jar look exactly the same.

We have become especially passionate about highlighting California honeys that people may have never tried before. Some of our varieties come from plants and regions that create incredibly distinct flavor profiles, and being able to share those with customers is one of our favorite parts of the business.

Brand-wise, I think what we are most proud of is that Chrisman Apiaries still feels personal. As we have grown, we have worked hard to keep the heart of the business intact. We want people to know who their beekeeper is, where their honey comes from, and that there are real people behind every jar who genuinely care about the bees and the product.

More than anything, we want Chrisman Apiaries to help people experience honey differently. We want someone to open one of our jars, taste it, and realize that real raw honey can have a story, a season, and a sense of place behind it.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Luck has definitely played a role in our story, both good and bad. With beekeeping, there are so many things you simply cannot control. Weather, rainfall, bloom seasons, wildfires, and even where certain plants thrive can completely change what a year looks like for us.

Last year, the Chinese Camp fire was probably the clearest example of bad luck we’ve experienced. We lost a large number of bees and were set back significantly. There wasn’t really anything we could have done to prevent it, and recovering meant rebuilding colonies and accepting that some of the work we had put in over previous seasons was suddenly gone. Experiences like that remind you very quickly that when you work so closely with agriculture and nature, not everything is going to go according to plan.

At the same time, we’ve been incredibly fortunate in other ways. California has such an amazing diversity of plants and landscapes, which gives us the opportunity to produce some really unique honeys. We’ve also been lucky to meet so many people who genuinely appreciate what we do. Some of our customers have been with us for years, and seeing people come back again and again, bring their friends and family, and become excited about different varieties of honey has been one of the most rewarding parts of growing Chrisman Apiaries.

On a personal level, I also feel very fortunate that something Cy started before we ever met eventually became something we both love and get to build together. We both genuinely enjoy beekeeping, and being able to turn that shared passion into our livelihood is something we don’t take for granted.

I think luck can open doors or throw unexpected obstacles in front of you, but what you do afterward matters more. We’ve had some really fortunate opportunities and some very difficult setbacks, and through both we’ve just tried to keep learning, adapting, and moving forward.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Chrismanapiaries.store
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrismanapiaries
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61592135932709