Woman Finds Sobriety In Beekeeping

VIDEO — A NEW BUZZ –

July 9, 2024 – “I was an alcoholic for 24 years, and God delivered me from it here eight years ago, and he replaced it with a passion for bees,” she said. “It just happened just like that.” She said she learned the craft from her mentor, and, with a lot of learning, she started her own bee farm, Richardson Bee Farms.

“It was a lot of hard work,” she said. “It’s disheartening, but that’s the biggest thing with beekeeping. You’re going to make mistakes, and you’re going to fail at some things, but then you keep doing it and learn from them.”

She grew her farm from caring for one hive to 500. Her dedication and love to beekeeping stems from the insect’s sound and nature.

“Just working with the bees, they say it reverses disease, PTSD, and I believe it because I can go in a trance and just work hives all day long, and I lose track of time,” Sheffield said. “I love it.”

At her farm in Mexia, she does an Ag Lease program that allows her to place hives on people’s property.

“I manage them myself, and property owners get the ag exemptions,” she said. “Then, I always keep extra suits on my truck, too, for my clients that want to learn and give them honey off their own property. Then, I lease them out for pollination, and I do bee removals.”

She said she also sold “nucs,” small honey bee colonies, and sells her honey at local stores.