Rachel grew up in Chandler and graduated from Chandler High School in 1994. JT grew up in Gilbert and moved to VVL when he was 15. He graduated from Gilbert High School in 1990. We met at Mesa Community College and were married in the summer of 1996. Our wedding reception was actually at the VVL Clubhouse.

My mom married a beekeeper last June. I have had a thing for bees since Amanda Lindquist Özyagcilar and the VVL Garden Club built our neighborhood a community garden in 2021.

Stephen Stoddard took my mom on a date to Bakersfield California to learn all about bees and I found myself really interested and intrigued.

We had just guided our local school’s first grader field trip in our garden and the teacher Mrs Beeman and I got talking about our obsession with bees and the fact that they were starting the bug unit the following week. I got an idea and called Stephen on the phone to ask if he could do an assembly for the 1st graders the next day while he was in town dropping off Mom. He agreed without hesitation. This is the first time I would wear a bee suit.

He proposed and gave all of my mom’s children a free case of honey to sweeten the deal. IT WAS THE BEST HONEY I EVER TASTED! For their wedding, I made a bunch of cute favors with small honey bears that said “Meant to Bee” with their names and the date of the wedding. Since I did so much to pull the wedding together Stephen let me keep all the extra honey bears.

When friends came to the house and asked about my mom and her new marriage I would give them a little honey bear. I loved sharing this honey and I kept hearing from others: "THIS IS THE BEST HONEY I HAVE EVER HAD."

I went to Delta, Utah last summer to see my mom's new summer home and I also saw the honey barn for the first time. I got to walk around and see how honey is processed and stored. I saw the beeswax melter and the wood shop where they built the hives. It was so fascinating to me. Stephen told me they sell some to local people by the case and what they can’t sell to the public they sell in 55-gallon drums to honey plants that mix it with lesser honey, heat it, dilute it, and sell it on grocery store shelves.

The purity was getting lost and I started thinking about what a shame that was. I asked him if he would teach me about beekeeping and take me to see the bees like he did with my mom. He happily agreed and in May he took JT Thomas RhoAnne Moody and I to California to learn how to keep the bees in the almond groves, blueberry fields, and orange trees. I had a blast and loved every minute of it. 

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the Honey Barn in Delta again. They had just brought in a truckload of sweet clover honey from South Dakota. I got to see them spin it out of the honeycomb and put it in bottles. Several of my friends had tasted the honey over the last year and asked me to bring some home.

I made a decision to bring home as much as I could fit in my SUV. I still get my free case each year for my use but I had to buy the rest. It was an expensive little risk but luckily the demand has been there and it has been a lot more fun connecting with people, talking about honey and bees, baking bread, and feeling passionate about a thing than I thought.

So I guess I’m now officially in the honey business. "Just" is how my son’s girlfriend Shaylen Sparrow signed a text and I thought it was the perfect name for my little bottle of perfect honey. That is how “just bee” honey was born.

It seems that people really like food sources from local places and knowing when and where your food comes from is a big deal.

We are members of the Garden Club and helped build and manage the beautiful VVL Community Garden.

Call (480) 296-3324, 

visit them online: http://tiny.cc/JustBee

follow on social media: Rachelthomasglow