Wolfinger creates buzz with Georgia Backyard Bees

Beekeeping with Georgia Backyard Bees brought Cherokee Nation citizen Cheryl Wolfinger back to her roots.

After working for years with a non-profit for international travel and being shut down temporarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Wolfinger said she had to find a way to mentally cope with what was happening in her life. When the tribe provided the one-time COVID assistance payments in 2021, she knew she wanted to put the money to good use.

“I want to do something to honor my Cherokee heritage, to honor my connection with the land and really kind of use this to ground me,” she said. “I want to do something that provides a need that I can do. So, I called my dad I was like, ‘Hey, do you think I can do beekeeping?”

Growing up in Oktaha, Oklahoma, Wolfinger said she remembers her father had a small hive for a few years, so the idea wasn’t new to her. After visiting with others who had successful hives, she purchased her own hives and has grown Georgia Backyard Bees into a second job in addition to being able to return to her non-profit job.

“I ordered three boxes off Amazon and ordered my bees. I got scared, but I just kind of kept at it. Before I knew it, those three hives I had grown them into 10 hives, and then this year I had 17 full honey-producing hives and harvested almost 800 pounds of honey,” she said.

Wolfinger only sells her honey locally due rising to shipping costs and started making other products with her honey including lip balms and hand lotions.

“It's been such a great outlet for me mentally, creatively, designing the labels and everybody just wants to buy it all because it's natural. Just stuff from the earth. It’s not a bunch of junk. So, I’m finding that there's really a market for natural things that are connected to the earth,” she said.

In addition to selling honey and her products, Wolfinger provides several services on bees and beekeeping such as a junior bee class for children where youth can observe bees and learn about them; site inspections for people wanting to start hives on their property where she helps them find the best spot to place hives; a four-hour beekeeping class for adults that will educate them on what a whole year of beekeeping looks like through all four seasons; and visiting local schools to present about beekeeping.

She said as a non-profit worker money is always tight, but with her small business it can add up to $10,000 in income, and she is thankful to the tribe for providing the opportunity.

“I just feel like this was God's way of just kind of blessing me through the nation that that I can turn around and bless other people because a lot of people use my honey because of allergies and different things. I felt like it’s just been good for me and my community.”

For more information visit Georgia Backyard Bees on Facebook or georgiabackyardbees.com.