slightly different, depending on what the bees are feeding on. When it’s not lavender season, the bees will forage on bottlebrush, eucalyptus, star thistle or wildflowers.

Visitors to the Lavender Bee Farm also get an education. “Part of what we do is we want people to like bees and not be afraid of them,” Wallenstein said. “We don’t want people to kill them. They’re very important for our ecology and our environment.”

None of the beekeepers in this story use pesticides.

“You’re dealing with a product that doesn’t require a lot of processing other than taking it out of the honey cells, straining the wax out, and putting it into a bottle,” Wallenstein said. “That product we want to make sure is as healthy as possible for people.”

And boy, do the bees work hard.

“Just to make one eight-ounce jar,” Wallenstein said, “the bees have to visit three million flowers. Can you imagine?”

The Lavender Bee Farm offers tours from May to July, and sold 2,000 lbs. of honey last year.

That’s a sweet little business.