Edible Food Find: Hudson Hives
Photos by Michael Piazza
“It’s an unintentional hobby-turned-business,” Jen Burney says about the honey business she and her husband, Stephen Burney, own and run in Hudson. Though perhaps unintentional, the Burneys have continually taken advantage of opportunities that led them from a beekeeping dream to collaborations with local businesses to ownership of a store full of bee- and honey-related products—with events and beekeeping classes, too—all under the name Hudson Hives.
Opportunity One: When the Burney family moved from a dense neighborhood in Hudson to a bigger house with more land and space, Stephen, a radio frequency engineer by profession, decided it was time to test his childhood dream of keeping bees. In 2014, he took a course offered by the Worcester County Beekeepers Association to learn the “nuts and bolts” of beekeeping, bought a couple of hives and began. After the bees survived their first winter, Stephen began adding hives. He now has about 30.
Opportunity Two: When the Town of Hudson started a farmers market in 2017, the Burneys began selling their surplus honey in jars labeled “Hudson Hives.” By 2019 they were selling at Maynard and Shrewsbury farmers markets as well. Since then, they’ve added the Marlboro farmers market and sell at fairs and festivals all over Massachusetts and in Bristol, Rhode Island.
Opportunities Three and Four: People asked where they could get their honey on non-market days, so the Burneys expanded their website to allow online orders, allowed local customers to pick up orders from their Hudson home and signed up for a free one-year business accelerator program through EforAll in 2020, all while busy raising a family and working two full-time jobs. “It was very intense,” Jen says.
Opportunities Five and Six: When local business owners reached out to connect and collaborate, Stephen and Jen said yes, selling their honey first at Mullahy’s Cheese Shop in Hudson and now at 40-plus retail locations. They provided honey sensory tasting experiences for companies via Zoom, shipping honey-tasting kits all over the U.S. “That got us through Covid,” Jen said. They have hives at Nashoba Valley Winery in Bolton and on the roof of Kith and Kin, a restaurant in Hudson, where Stephen has spoken at honey-themed dinners. When his favorite brewer, Greater Good Imperial Brewing Co., called to suggest a collaboration, Stephen was surprised and thrilled. Last summer a 9.2% imperial hazy IPA created with 300 pounds of Hudson Hives honey was on tap at the brewery’s location in Worcester.
Opportunity Seven: A week after Stephen was laid off from his job of 27 years in September 2023, a retail location opened up on Main Street in Hudson. Jen was already working for Hudson Hives full time, having left her career as an urban planner behind. Since their vision was always to have a retail store, they jumped at the opportunity. In December 2023, the Hudson Hives store opened its doors.
The new store is bright and full of honey and bee-related products. There is a honey-tasting bar with two Hudson Hives varieties plus honeys from other beekeepers. There are honey and beeswax products made by Jen, who is a certified herbalist and aromatherapist, plus bee-related gifts such as artisan-crafted spoons, wooden knives and boards, mugs and clay earrings. If you’re interested in making mead, you can buy the necessary supplies, and Stephen plans to sell beekeeper equipment in the future.
“In the back is where we bottle, label and ship,” Jen says. “We’ve done bee talks, classes and workshops.” She adds that they’ve always wanted to be able to teach. This spring they offered beehive tours and beekeeping classes. They plan to offer mead-making classes, taught by one of their customers, and are working with the town to obtain a license to offer mead tasting at the store.
What started as one hive and a hobby seems to have no limits. When opportunity knocks, you can be sure the Burneys will respond.
hudsonmahives.com
45 Main St., Hudson
