Hi, honey child. I’m Casey, the entomologist and beekeeper behind Honey Child Hives.

My story with honey bees began more than a decade ago, almost by accident. As a young entomologist at Virginia Tech, I worked in an insect research lab where the main focus was studying squash bugs and brown marmorated stink bugs. However, tucked alongside that work was a research project exploring how a new insecticide affected honey bee behavior and productivity.

We spent long, hot days building plastic hoop houses to create controlled environments for the experiments, but the days I loved most were the ones spent with the honey bees. That summer, I helped tend the university apiaries, cared for colonies, and collected research data. I was hooked, like the tiny hamuli that hold a bee’s wings together.

Honey bees stayed with me as I built a career in entomology, agriculture, and public service, eventually reaching a lifelong goal of working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. When my position was eliminated in the 2025 federal reduction in force, I decided to see an opportunity in the unexpected. Honey Child Hives is part of what grew from it.

Today, my approach to beekeeping is equal parts science, stewardship, curiosity, and heart. For more than a decade, I have cared for honey bees in university apiaries, including those at Virginia Tech and NC State, as well as my own. I am an active member of local and state beekeeping associations and a lifelong learner who believes good beekeeping means never assuming you know it all. I stay curious, keep learning, and use a thoughtful, science-backed approach that prioritizes healthy colonies and care for the environment around them.

What keeps me coming back? Cracking open a hive, hearing the propolis pop, and being greeted by thousands of bees, all moving, all busy, all with a purpose.

I started Honey Child Hives to share more of that wonder. I want to help people feel connected to bees, create more habitat for pollinators, and leave our little corner of the world better than I found it.

And while I take the science and responsibility of caring for bees seriously, I am a little rougher around the edges than your average Southern belle. I talk to my bees. I sing to them. I call them my girls. And if I spot a queen doing exactly what she is supposed to be doing, there is a very good chance she is going to hear, “Go off, queen!”

That is Honey Child Hives: a little science, a little Southern charm, and a whole lot of love for the bees.