HONEYBEE GARDENS - A Bit of History

Honeybee Gardens was created in 1995 by author and herbalist Melissa J. Hertzler. Years of herbal study prompted Ms. Hertzler to create natural personal care products for her and her family. What began as kitchen cosmetics soon turned into a profitable enterprise. Honeybee Gardens products are now distributed in the USA by such companies as Frontier Natural Products Co-op, Lotus Light, Mountain Peoples Warehouse, All Natural Distributors and Rainbow Natural Distributors. You will find HBG products in health food stores, pharmacies, on-line stores, herb shops, specialty and gift stores in the USA.

Mission

Since 1995, Honeybee Gardens, Inc. has operated under one simple concept, "Create pure, all-natural bath and body care products made from only the finest organic ingredients, offer them at a reasonable price, and treat every customer like a friend."

Natural is Better

Honeybee Gardens products are created entirely of natural materials. You can actually pronounce our ingredients! We reuse and recycle as much as possible and, perhaps most importantly, we DO NOT test ANY of our products on animals.

We take great pride in providing our customers with the finest herbal products and customer service. We sincerely welcome comments and opinions, and are available to help with any questions you may have. So try our all-natural herbal body care products and experience nature's supremacy.

True Origins of Honeybee Gardens

Melissa Hertzler started her business, Honeybee Gardens - manufacturer of all natural herbal bath and body care products, in August of 1995. She was 27 years old, and working for an architectural firm. She was also back in college working on an MBA. And she wasn't happy. It had finally sunken-in that she was not born wealthy, and would have to be working for at least the next 35 years of her life, so she had better do something that gave her some joy.

As with many businesses, HBG was created out of a simple need. Melissa had married husband, Randy, not long after graduating from college in 1990. Melissa soon discovered something about Randy - he hated shaving. His face would become red and irritated with the first swipe of a razor. She used to buy him expensive aftershaves and shaving potions, but nothing seemed to work (some even aggravated the problem). Melissa had been growing and studying herbs for years, and decided to test some of that knowledge in order to save her husband's face. It took time. Randy, acting as guinea pig, sampled formulas on almost a daily basis. One was too gentle. One wasn't as soothing. With each trial, the results were documented. More research ensued. Finally, one day, he proclaimed, "This is it!", and our Herbal Aftershave was born.

1998 brought a web site, national distribution by two major natural product distributors, a design award for the HBG logo, articles in trade publications and an herbal cookbook, expansion of contract manufacturing, private label services and finally the full-time employment of Melissa by her own company.

By 1999 things were starting to go pretty well. HBG participated in its first international trade show and landed a huge private label contract with a well-known company. They were also picked up by another national distributor and began distribution in Canada. By the year 2000, HBG signed on a group of sales reps for the New England area who did a spectacular job, highlighted by getting more distribution and getting HBG products into natural grocery chains such as Whole Foods Markets. Also, picked up more private label work. Perhaps the most exciting was a contract at the end of the year with American Airlines to do their in-flight amenities! And on July 1, 2001, Honeybee Gardens became a corporation.