With its home-raised honey, delicious food, and refreshing drinks, Creek House Honey Farm is a hit destination for tourists and locals alike.
Located in Canyon, Texas, the operation offers tours, homemade skincare products, event venue space and so much more. It’s hard to believe this buzzing business was once just a hobby for owners George and Paige Nester.
To help pollinate their pumpkin patch, the Nesters bought two beehives in 2010, and after discovering the many health benefits of beeswax, Paige started making lip balm to sell at farmers markets. Fast forward a few years and the couple turned its love of beekeeping into a thriving business with 30 employees.
“When we started, we didn’t know how big of a demand there was for local honey,” Paige said. “It was never meant to be a business, but after realizing how much time, money, and effort we were putting into our hobby, we decided to take it a step further.”
In May 2019, the couple decided to expand the business and open a winery. They built a two-story building on the edge of town too, that also includes a retail section.
“Every facet of our business has something that draws back to those bees,” Paige said. “I think the uniqueness of what we do really draws people in.”
According to Paige, Creek House now has nearly 100 hives. Beekeeping can be challenging here in West Texas. She said it takes around 4.5 million flowers and 10,000 bees to produce one bottle of honey. With the region’s lack of rain and flowers, the operation has to move its hives to meet the bee’s needs. Their hives are currently located in Wellington.
“We have to move them to these big crops in order to have local honey,” Paige said. “We have even had out-sourced honey because we have gotten to where we can’t meet the demand.”
Paige said because the operation is a member of the Texas Beekeeping Association, they have met people who run thousands of hives. This allows them to provide valuable out-sourced honey to support their business.
Despite the challenges of raising bees and producing local honey, the business continues to prosper. Paige credits this to the company’s ability to adapt.
“It takes a lot of hard work and determination,” Paige said, “but it’s also off a wing and a prayer. You have to pinpoint what your community’s needs are, and I think that’s why we are so successful. We love what we do, and that makes our jobs so rewarding.”
