MELBOURNE, Ky. — Community members are building a buzzing industry that's both sweet and essential to the environment. 

What You Need To Know

  • The Northern Kentucky Beekeepers Association works to expand collective knowledge of beekeeping and educate the public on honeybees

  • Betsy Rossi has served as president of the group for the past few years

  • Products made using bees, including honey and wax, generate $700 million in profits each year

The sound of thousands of bees may intimidate some, but for local beekeeper Betsy Rossi, it’s peaceful.

"Hear the sounds, smell the smells; it can be really meditative,” she said as she checked on one of six of her bee colonies.

But before the work can begin, she readies her suit, ties her hair back and lights the smoker. She said the smoker “not only keeps them calm, but you can use it to redirect the bees a little.”

Her love of the bees stems from her family, as her father found a large hive in their woods when she was a child. Decades later, her brother would gift his wife all the supplies a future beekeeper would need. It would inspire Rossi to pick up the hobby as well.

"I think it's really cool to work with the bees ... because once you open the hive and you hear the sound and you smell the smells, it's intoxicating,” Rossi said as she showed off one of the hive bodies, wooden boxes that serve as the living quarters for the colony.

Now, Rossi has served as president of the Northern Kentucky Beekeepers Association for the past four years, sharing advice to other beekeeping enthusiasts and those who may want to begin but don’t know where to start.

"This is a healthy hive, and it has at least 40,000 bees," she said. "There is one queen per colony. This whole thing is one colony, and there's one queen here."

"The queen is the only one that lays eggs; she lays up to 1,500 eggs a day.”

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, honeybees are the nation’s “primary commercial pollinator.” Products made using bees, including honey and wax, generate $700 million in profits each year.

Rossi said the bees also produce a sticky substance, "propolis," which protects the honey. After her work is done, she jars it up, and her dad always gets the first taste.

As Rossi walked back to her family home from the hives, she handed her father, David Schneider, with a small taste.

"The best honey is local,” Schneider said as he tasted a large spoonful of the honey.

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