Laura & Danny Weaver
Occupation: Beekeepers, Bee Breeders, Ecologists & Bee Enthusiasts
Location: Austin, TX
Background: Laura graduated from the University of Texas with a major in Education, and taught school before becoming a full-time Queen Bee at BeeWeaver. Danny graduated from Rice University and University of Texas Law School. Danny grew up helping with queen bee and honey production, and returned to the family business in 1989, just as Varroa mites and Africanized honey bees reached Texas.
In 1995, Danny and his father, Binford, embarked upon a project to produce honeybees that could thrive in the presence of Varroa mites without chemical controls. After a long struggle, we succeeded, and since 2001, all our hives have operated without chemical controls for Varroa. Most of our hives have been in organic production since the mid-90s. We’ve been producing queens, bees and honey, and providing pollination with chemical-free hives ever since.
Personal History: We have three sons who keep us busy and constantly remind us why sustainable, natural living is so important. Laura now also has a deeper understanding of why a hive with nothing but drones and a queen looses its social structure and exhibits reduced productivity.
Current Projects: We are focused on developing the best honeybee nature can give us. We embrace scientific advancement (Danny helped organize the project to sequence the Honeybee Genome) to aid selection of stronger, better honey bees. Our queens were the first commercially available Varroa-tolerant bees, giving the commercial honeybee industry (your honey producers) the opportunity to reduce their dependency upon chemicals and pesticides, and allowing backyard beekeepers to succeed with natural beekeeping methods.
Other Fun Facts: For nearly 20 years Laura has talked with bee lovers around the world. Naturally the bee-lover crowd is unique, and Laura has enjoyed building friendships throughout the world based on the common love of an insect. Danny has been in several leadership positions within the beekeeping and pollinator industries, including President of the American Beekeeping Federation, on the Steering Committees of the Pollinator Partnership and North American Pollinator Protection Campaign (NAPCC), and Co-coordinator of the Honey Bee Genome Sequencing Consortium. As owner/managers of one of the only chemical-free commercial apiaries in the United States, we have the pleasure of helping spread the love of natural beekeeping across the country.
More Places to Find Us on the Web:
Website: BeeWeaver
Blog: Beeweaver Buzz
