After two decades of beekeeping, Wilton resident Ray DuBois still speaks about bees with the wonder and zeal of a beginner. For DuBois, the owner of Beelove Apiaries, it’s never been just about the jars of honey he sells at Village Market or the Wilton Farmers’ Market — it’s about a deep love of nature, the lessons bees offer humans, and how they foster community connections.
From the Bee-gining
DuBois first started beekeeping in 2006, after he and his wife, Kimberly DuBois, attended a seminar at the Greenwich Library. They lived in Greenwich at the time.
As a self-described “nature nut,” DuBois was immediately hooked.
“I started with two hives, and then four, and then eight, and then next thing you know, I’m over 50 hives,” he chuckled. “It just had a life of its own.”
In 2018, DuBois moved to Wilton, and so did his burgeoning business, Beelove Apiaries. Soon after, Village Market began selling Beelove products.
The product line is still evolving. Beelove’s Hot Honey made its debut just last month. DuBois said it was “by popular demand.”
“People have been bugging me for one forever,” he said. “And I grow my own chilies every year anyway, so I said, ‘Why am I not making a hot honey?’ It’s gotten a good reception.”
Community is Key
In addition to producing raw local honey, DuBois offers hive setup and management services, and also provides nonprofit educational programs, including school group visits.
“I’m here to help and I’m here to teach and share wherever I can,” he said, recounting tales from a recent homeschool group visit. “We just had a blast going through the hives.”
“I love being part of the community, and that’s really why both Kimberly and I are here,” he said. “We are grateful that the community has embraced what we do, and our mission is to help people.”
DuBois was also referring to Beelove’s sister company, Turtle Moon Wellness, an e-commerce site the DuBois couple operates which sells a variety of wellness products as well as the Beelove honey line.
“The thing that links all of those things together, including the beekeeping, is that they’re all nature-based,” DuBois said. “They’re all oriented towards empowering people to take care of themselves.”
DuBois said he is also talking with a Wilton restaurant owner interested in sourcing local honey.
“They approached me [and] said they would like to change some of the places they source their food to make it more local,” he said. “So that’s pretty cool.”
Always More to Learn
DuBois’ big regret with beekeeping? Not starting sooner.
“By the time I got started, I was really an adult and well along in my life,” he said. “I kind of have some regrets that I didn’t get started earlier, because you can only learn so much in each season.”
For DuBois, bees are a source of endless fascination.
“It’s amazing what this little insect can teach us as humans,” he said. “We think we’re the most intelligent species on the planet, but what I’ve learned from being close to nature, and particularly from taking care of the bees, is that every species has their own intelligence and can do things that we can’t do.”
“We’ve studied them, but there’s so many unexplained phenomenon,” he continued. “There’s still mysteries about how the hive runs and why things happen and how they happen, so that keeps you stimulated as a beekeeper. There’s no end to your learning.”
“People are always saying ‘save the bees’, but in reality, they’re saving us,” he added. “On a personal level, they challenge me in so many ways, and I’ve grown from doing it.”
That endless opportunity to learn, even after 20 years of beekeeping, is why DuBois still won’t call himself an expert.
“Twenty years later, and I would never call myself a master beekeeper or an expert or anything like that,” he said modestly. “But I do think I have picked up a few things that I love sharing with other beekeepers, like mentoring newbies.”
Newbies? Or does he mean new bees…
In addition to Village Market, Beelove is a regular at the Wilton Farmers’ Market. The brand is also sold at Palmer’s Market in Darien, the Stamford Museum & Nature Center gift shop, and online at Turtle Moon Wellness.
