“My husband calls me a woman who never met a hobby she didn’t like,” Gayle Goodfriend says with a laugh. Ten years ago, she was working as a mortgage banker when she stumbled upon a documentary about bees and got stung with a passion for beekeeping. Last year, she turned her hobby into a business: Goodfriend Honey, which sells skincare products, candles and, of course, honey.

“I had a couple of hives that I would harvest the honey from and give away as gifts. As you get better at it, you get more hives,” says Goodfriend. “Eventually, I had more honey than I could give away and a few too many Ziploc bags of beeswax in the freezer. That’s when I started researching what I could do with the honey and beeswax, developing all kinds of recipes, and eventually started a little business.”

Goodfriend works from a five-acre homestead in Manatee County where approximately 400,000 bees feast on nearby saw palmettos, sable palms and Brazilian peppertrees. While 400,000 bees may sound like a lot, according to Goodfriend, she’s small-time. “I feel bad when I have to tell people that I’m out of honey for the season, but when it’s done, it’s done, and then I have to wait until I can harvest it again,” she says. Her season typically lasts from winter until April or May. The bees then take a well-deserved break during the hot summer months.

“There is also so much upkeep involved,” says Goodfriend. “It’s like any other livestock. You have to worry about the weather, pests, diseases. Just trying to keep them alive and producing can be a real challenge.”

Nevertheless, Goodfriend loves the work, and often finds herself surprised at the turn her life has taken, because, prior to becoming a beekeeper, she hated insects. “I still hate bugs,” she says, “just not bees.”

Goodfriend Honey, (941) 320-1202, goodfriendhoney.com