Perkyhills Apiary: Bee the Balm Moisturizing Cream
Debra Harding, a retired nurse, started making all-natural moisturizer with ingredients from the bees she keeps on her ranch in Olathe, Colorado. She and her husband, Richard, recently purchased a home and rental property in Olney, and come to stay when they’re visiting grandchildren in the Fort Worth-Springtown area. She makes and sells her cocoa butter- and-beeswax moisturizer “Bee the Balm” and a lip balm under her Perkyhills Apiary label out of her kitchen so quantities are limited. An 8-ounce jar of moisturizer costs $xxx, and the lip balm is $xxx. She can be reached at hardinginfo@gmail.com.
Q: How long have you been a beekeeper: A: Ten or eleven years. I’ve always been interested in bees. I remember as a little girl going with my dad to a professor’s house, a friend of his from college, and I peered through this little peephole and he had bees in there. When our neighbor Bill passed away [in Olathe], I inherited bee equipment, and a jacket and gloves.
Q: What the moisturizer the first product that you did? A: Yes. I wanted a good lotion and I grew up canning and making things and so I just wanted to come up with a lotion that I liked. It took me about two years to get the balance between the oils and the butters. So it wasn’t real oily when you put it on. As a nurse, you’re washing your hands all the time and the beeswax does protect it. I’ve had nurses whose hands were split and the beeswax healed their hands. I do a lip balm that has honey in it so it’s softer than other lip balms.
Q: How can people buy your products? A: This is not a business. This has been a labor of love so there is going to be limited availability. I just did it for me and I shared it with friends and they liked it and wanted it. It’s been like a treat for people. I’d give it to pregnant women at work for their bellies. So every pregnant nurse at the hospital or CNAs [get it]. I don’t put any fragrance in it because some people are allergic to it. I’ve been told it works on bug bites, eczema, cradle cap, and diaper rash. People can get ahold of me at hardinginfo@ gmail.com.