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Surly's honey bee farm is all the buzz

Helping save the bee population AND providing locally-sourced honey? Surly's bee farm sounds like a win-win.

MINNEAPOLIS - They are known for their cold brews and hot pizzas, but there's something else buzzing at Surly Brewery.

Just a few steps behind the brewery in Minneapolis sits its very own honey bee farm. It doesn't just provide honey, but also does its part to save the bee population.

"If we lose the bees, then we lose so many different crops and native vegetation, so it's not just this small little hobby," explained Surly Brewery chef Ben Peine. "There is a grander scheme to it."

When Chef Peine isn't busy making pizzas in Surly's kitchen, he's usually buzzing around the honey bee hives as the main beekeeper.

"So last year the honey that we harvested here, we used in hot sauce that we make in house and then we also used a little bit in pastry," Peine said. "We'll use it in some specific things, but then sometimes we will use probably about five gallons a week and we use other local places."

Using their own honey helps Surly reduce its carbon footprint.

"If you're using local products, it's going to be super fresh, it's not going to be trucked from Mexico or California or somewhere else around the country," said Peine. "Fresher product and not harming the environment."

So what's his favorite part about beekeeping?

"For me it's about getting into that zen moment, very chill, it's just you and the bees, they are doing their thing," he explained. "And then it's all about the seasons. When you're keeping bees, you have to be super in tune to the seasons because then you know when the nectar flow starts, which is when they start producing honey."

To learn more about Surly, click here.

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