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Changes abuzz at Oregon Bee Store By Buffy Pollock Updated: Jan 01, 2023 05:38 PM A A Mike and Angelika Curtis talk about the history and future of Oregon Bee Store in Eagle Point. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune] Mike and Angelika Curtis unwrap a new sign for Oregon Bee Store. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune] After a decade in business, the Oregon Bee Store closed up shop this past weekend despite plans to still offer honey and beeswax candles to longtime loyal customers. Owners Mike and Angelika Curtis said the rumor mill was abuzz within days of them posting a “for sale“ sign last summer near the frontage area along Highway 62. The couple said everything from labor shortages and an ongoing drought to just plumb being overloaded with a slew of business ventures prompted their decision to close the 10-year-old retail front as of Dec. 24. “We were just spread too thin. We kept adding more and more things on top of what we were already doing,” said Mike Curtis. “And we never took anything off!” Angelika Curtis added. The couple, busy Wednesday unwrapping a new business sign and selling off the final components of the Bee Store, said response from longtime customers to the change was heartwarming. “Everyone was pretty worried, so we had to tell everyone no, we’re not going out of business,” said Mike. “It was just time to slow down a little bit. We’re both in our 60s. We’d kind of like to get down to five days a week instead of seven. A 40-hour work week would sure be nice.” Opened in 2012, the retail Bee Store was an offshoot of the decades-old Wild Bee Honey Farm founded by Mike’s dad in 1966. Mike Curtis has lived on the property his entire life, becoming a full-time beekeeper before reaching adulthood. Over the years, the couple, married in 1995, added beeswax candles, fresh produce and U-pick crops like strawberries. In the background, they’ve managed up to 500 or more beehives for commercial operations around the Pacific Northwest, gearing up in late winter each year to service various crops such as almonds and prunes. In recent months, Eagle Point Baptist Church purchased the property along one side of the couple’s driveway. A little red structure dubbed “the bee barn” will be moved to the Curtises’ remaining parcel and used for a self-serve honey and candle station, which they hope to open come March. “We just sold the farm part, where the store was located. That’s all going away, and what we’re doing is taking the Bee Barn here and moving it to the other side of the driveway,” said Mike. “Self-service is how we used to do it, so we’re kind of going back to the old-school system and really hoping it’ll work out.” The biggest changes for customers, Curtis said, will be the lack of produce and the smaller interface. Working with the couple, local farmer Octavio Poscidonio will help with farmers markets and other tasks. Poscidonio recently spent four growing seasons trying to revive farming operations at the historical Beebe Farms in Central Point, closing in June due in large part to smoke, drought and labor shortages. Poscidonio, who is now working to farm his own parcel of land, said he was relieved for the couple’s decision to scale back but excited to work with them to keep locally made honey available. “There are always trials. Things change and evolve,” he said. “I’m happy for them, though, to make some changes that will work for them, and I’m happy I get to stick around and help.” Poscidonio gave his nod of approval that part of the bee farm property was sold to a church. “They’re really nice people, so that’ll be great. It’s one thing if you’re selling and up and leaving, but this way they know they’ll have good neighbors,” he said. “I’ll do the farmers markets for them and help with some other things.” Mike Curtis said the changes will bring reduced stress for the couple and allow them to focus on hive operations, which is more than a full-time venture certain times of year. Offering the self-serve option for honey and candles this spring will be a return to his family’s roots. “We’ll have the self-serve option seven days a week. It's how it all started years ago. It was just a little table out there with jars of honey. Then we built a little log-looking building — did that for quite a few years, and it just kept evolving.” The couple said they were hopeful the honor system would suffice for honey sales — past thefts at the roadside stand were almost a deterrent to the self-serve approach. Said Angelika Curtis, “We’re hoping to add some modern technology this time, and we’re winging it to see what works.” “We’ve got about two to three weeks before it goes full bore with the bees again. Right now, they’re in Idaho, in a building for winter. In a few weeks, they’ll be on a semi-truck headed for California, first to help with almonds, then prunes,” he said. “It doesn’t slow down.” For updates and online sales, see oregonbeestore.com Reach reporter Buffy Pollock at 541-776-8784 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @orwritergal.