TRUE HEIRLOOM HONEY
SINCE 1860
We produce honey that is from our family’s bees in a sustainable, future-minded manner.
When you choose Sweet Bee Honey, you are supporting a local family apiary whose goal is to ensure the healthy future of bees.
five generations of honey
Meet Ryan
Ryan Lieuallen was born a 5th generation beekeeper. If it wasn’t for his late grandfather Edmund Varney however, Ryan would be an astronaut instead.
When Ryan was was an untamed teenager in high school, his retired career beekeeper grandfather mentored him. Edmund taught Ryan about sustainable beekeeping and more importantly how to become a good man.
With continued support from his grandfather and father (on the business side), Ryan went to college at Washington State University to study business and entomology.
Working his bees at night, weekends, and all summer during those early days, Ryan graduated and began Sweet Bee Honey Company.
Ryan loves honoring the past of beekeeping with traditional hive management skills, while incorporating new technologies and information into the hive to adapt to our evolving world.
His passion is to maintain the health of the hive and ensure the future of honeybees, pollinators and beekeepers.
Meet Stacie
A career health teacher and coach, Stacie wasn’t born into beekeeping. It wasn't until she met Ryan that she overcame her fear of insects and grew truly fond of honeybees.
Following the birth of their two daughters, Stacie decided it was time for a new chapter and built the retail side of Sweet Bee Honey Company from the ground up.
Today, she blends her passion for health and education by managing our tasting room, where she teaches guests about the vital role bees play in our ecosystem.
A farm girl at heart, Stacie invites you to visit for a honey tasting and stay to meet the rest of the family—including her horses, cows, chickens, and a friendly farm dog or two.
The Next Generation
As 6th-generation beekeepers, Ryan and Stacie’s daughters are the latest stewards of a legacy that spans over a century.
Whether they are spotting a queen bee or greeting guests in the tasting room, their passion for the craft is impossible to miss.
Cadence, the Naturalist: Our first-born has a soul rooted in the earth. With an intuitive connection to all living things and a deep love for the outdoors, Cadence is right at home among the bees and the beauty of the farm.
Sierra, the Creative: Sierra may be the younger sister, but her vision is vast. A natural artist and designer, she has a gift for seeing the potential in everything, building incredible creations from whatever she finds.
While their roots are deep in our family’s history, their paths are their own. Ryan and Stacie are proud to support them as they explore their passions, knowing that the future of the Lieuallen legacy is bright in their hands.
Meet Our Team
As a family business, we know that many hands make light work. To keep our bees healthy and our honey flowing, we rely on a team that has become an extension of our own family: our Master Beekeepers.
You’ll likely see them out in the fields or tending the hives when you visit our tasting room—they truly are the backbone of everything we do.
A Global Exchange of Expertise-Beekeeping is a specialized craft that requires years of patience and a deep understanding of nature. Because we are based in a small, close-knit community, finding local experts with this specific skill set can be a challenge.
While we always recruit locally first, we often turn to the international H-2A program to bring in the world-class mastery our bees deserve. These team members are highly skilled professionals who bring global perspectives and generations of beekeeping knowledge to our farm.
We are proud to be a team that blends local roots with international expertise.
Learn about our apiaries, and how we are ensuring the future of honey bees.
