Nikki Macredes ~ Owner and Founder of Bee Swell
Every Bee Life Matters
I feel that we all have something special that we can contribute to this earth. I want to be able to inspire others to be a good person, do good things to help make a difference, and live life to the fullest. We are never guaranteed tomorrow, so enjoy moments and make memories. I knew that even if my body wasn't going to cooperate because of health issues that my voice could, so I started my mission to help save the bees. The idea of Bee Swell was started in February 2016, and by April 2016 we had our business up and running. I have a strong love and connection with the bees and I hope to be able to make you love them a little more too. Bee Swell is more than a business to me...it is a passion to make a difference. I have many amazing things planned for our future, and I hope you will follow our journey.
Together, anything is possible! -Nikki Macredes
Bee Swell means "Be a Good Person, Do Good Things, Live life to the fullest".
Bee Swell is building a small scale flower farm and sanctuary for pollinators at our home in Middleton. Our sanctuary is a place where the bees, birds, and other pollinators can thrive in natural lush habitat. Even though this isn’t as big as we had hoped originally, we know we are still making a difference and hope to have a larger sanctuary and farm one day soon.
We have removed the majority of our front lawn and replaced with drought tolerant, pollinator friendly flowers. In 2022 we plan to increase our flowers by at least 50%. By gardening as organically as possible for the last two years, we have been able to balance our eco system on our property and it has been so amazing to witness. Your purchases have allowed us to take a mostly grassy .20 acre property and turn it into an oasis! So far we have brought in approximately 40 yards of soil to create these gardens and habitats. This year we plan to bring in another 20-30 yards. For now I have stepped away from beekeeping due to the area where our home is located.
After losing all of my bees two years in a row, I had to make the hard decision to stop. I cannot control the pesticides and chemicals used around me and didn’t feel it was fair to save bees only to bring them home and set them up for death in the end. Since starting my journey though, I have learned that being a beekeeper isn’t necessarily the best way to “save the bees”. Instead, planting flowers and gardening organically is the best thing you can do, and I have witnessed it firsthand. Last year my flowers were visited by so many bee species that I have never even seen before! I had bumblebees and hummingbirds dancing on my flowers, and I found holes in the ground where native bees had found a safe place to call home. THAT is what this journey is all about! Native bees need to be saved too, and I hope you will help make a difference as well by doing the same.