Eastaboga Bee Company Makes The Honey Everyone Is Buzzing About

Eastaboga Bee Company Makes The Honey Everyone Is Buzzing About



Justin Hill loves honey. The owner of Eastaboga Bee Company in Eastaboga, Alabama, Hill often dips into his own product, adding its multi-layered sweetness to a peanut butter sandwich or enjoying a sticky spoonful straight.

But the millions of busy bees he keeps—he callsthem his business partners—bring him the most satisfaction.

“They fascinate me, how they communicate, how they find the flowers they need, pretty much everything about them is interesting,” he says.

Spending most of his time outside (even in Alabama’s sweltering summer heat) also appeals to Hill.

“I love being in nature, and my work means I’m out there enough to really see and notice the different things about different spots. It’s relaxing to me,” he says.
Credit:

Courtesy of Eastaboga Bee Company
A Fourth-Generation Beekeeper

Beekeeping began as a hobby, but the idea of an outdoor “office” and the chance to stay true to his family’s farming tradition led him to make it a career. He founded his business in 2012 on his great grandfather's cattle pastures, making him the fourth generation of his kin to work the same land.

Now almost 15 years in, Eastaboga remains a one-man operation, yet Hill is never lonely. He’s got Jake, his trusty hound-dog sidekick. And, he gets to know his beloved bees well.

“They are like people,” he says. “Different ones have different personalities and moods. I’m always learning how to make their lives easier, which is the main part of my job.” The better Hill does his job, the more honey his bees make.
The Buzz Around Eastaboga Honey

Hill also connects with the people who love the liquid gold his co-workers produce.

“I enjoy meeting folks who want my honey at the markets where I sell, like Pepper Place in Birmingham and the Anniston Farmers Market,” he says. “I love getting to know the chefs who use it too.”

This list includes some of the South’s top culinary talents, like Birmingham’s Frank Stitt and Rob McDaniel and Auburn’s David Bancroft, who lend the complex flavors of Eastaboga Bee Company’s honey to everything from salad dressings and sauces to desserts and cocktails.

Hill’s honey shines in all kinds of Alabama eats and drinks, making appearances in ice cream at Big Spoon Creamery, Back Forty Beer Company’s Truck Stop Honey Ale, and pastries at Bandit Pâtisserie.

Last year, Hill got the chance to share his beekeeping knowledge with Hollywood as a member of the team providing technical guidance on the set of "The Rivals of Amziah King." Filmed in Alabama, the movie stars Matthew McConaughey as a beekeeper and is expected to be released later this year.

How Eastaboga Honey Is Made

Hill passed along the methods he uses to keep his bees, work that culminates in the honey harvest, which occurs several times a year, mostly in the summer and early fall. It begins with him coaxing the bees out of the boxes with a scent they can’t stand and then taking the bee-free boxes to his workshop, where he removes the individual frames of honeycomb.

Next, he opens each hexagonal cells' wax cap with a small roller before loading the frames in a stainless-steel cylinder that spins them and flings the honey out. The sugary syrup drips into buckets and later gets bottled. The honey is never heated, and nothing is added. Every drop comes straight from the source and remains raw and natural.

But the buzz around Eastaboga Bee Company surrounds more than Hill’s highly praised honey. He uses beeswax from empty honeycombs to create lip balm, hand lotion, and candles. He makes a rich furniture polish and leather restorer, too.

While interacting with fellow honey lovers keeps Hill happy, he never tires of time on the farm, checking bee boxes, and pulling honey. He doesn’t even mind the stings, a minor hazard he calls “just part of the gig.”

And although often hot and always labor-intensive, his work delivers rewards. “I enjoy providing a service through farming. I like the feeling of accomplishment after each harvest,” he says. “I feel like I’ve helped make something people want.”


“They are like people. Different ones have different personalities and moods. I’m always learning how to make their lives easier, which is the main part of my job.”
— JUSTIN HILL
Justin Hill's Legacy

There’s something Hill wants as well. “I really want people to know how thankful I am, how thankful a lot of the local farming community is, for the people in our state who support us,” he says. “We are trying to deliver real farm-to-table goodness, and we’re grateful for those who get that and appreciate that.”