Bees Arrive in Chattaroy

JB Bees, a new bee supply store that opened in Chattaroy last year, has added live bees as a purchasing option for those interested in starting beekeeping or adding a new hive to their collection.

Owner Barret Stintzi has both an online store and a physical store that is open every Saturday, selling everything from protective gear to hives to tools. “I mostly sell bee supplies,” he said.

Getting into the bee business was accidental for Stintzi, who grew up in Spokane Valley and has lived in Chattaroy for the last six years. He said he and his former boss, John Grewe, were having a casual conversation three years ago about bees, and they decided to get some hives. “We did bees one year,” he said. “It was a fun hobby, and I thought it would be fun to have a bee store.”

Stintzi started making bee boxes in his garage with plans to open a bee supply store. That’s when the former owner of BeeManiacs in Deer Park, Ari Alvarez, reached out and asked Strintzi if he was interested in taking over his store because he was moving out of the area. Stintzi bought out his inventory and opened his shop, which he said is the only one in northern Spokane County.

Stintzi is also a member of the Backyard Bee Association that meets monthly at the Zion Lutheran Church in Deer Park. Every spring, the association offers beginner beekeeping classes, which just wrapped up for the season.

Stintzi said a local woman who sold live bees was asked if he was willing to take it over. “I kind of picked it up,” he said.

He said he is taking orders for bees and has over 100 orders so far. The orders are expected to arrive on April 18. Stintzi said each pack comes with 13,000 bees and a queen. “It seems like a lot, but they’re small,” he said. “There’s about three pounds of bees.”

He also sells Nucs, which are mini hives that come in plastic boxes with a queen and worker bees in stages from eggs to larvae. All the live bees come from Northern California, Stintzi said.

So far, his live bee clients seem evenly split between new beekeepers and established beekeepers who are buying replacements for lost colonies or new additions, he said.

Needing to buy replacement bees is something Stintzi has experience with. “I started with 14 colonies when I went into winter,” he said. “In the fall, I had a really bad yellow jacket problem.”

Yellow jackets can eat the bees and bee larvae, decimating a hive. “I lost a lot of hives last fall,” he said.

Stintzi said he makes his own honey, but has a small operation, so he only produces enough to sell to friends and family, not commercially. “It usually goes pretty quickly,” he said.

Stintzi is always willing to give advice about beekeeping and educate newcomers. He said he hears from a lot of new bee owners that they want to get bees to pollinate their garden. “A lot of people think bees will stay in their area,” he said. “They will travel three miles from the hive. They’re going to go where the nectar is.”

Beekeeping is a fun hobby, and bees are generally low maintenance, he said. “You’re always learning.”

Establishing a new hive does take some time and attention, Stintzi said, as bees that don’t have a store of honey in the hive need to be fed constantly. 

There are two gallon feeders that will last a week or two, Stintzi said. Once a hive gets established and starts to grow, weekly hive inspections are generally sufficient, he said.

Stintzi also sells queen bees for keepers who need a replacement queen for whatever reason. “I always try to keep queen bees on hand,” he said.

His physical store is only open one day a week because Stintzi works a full-time job in maintenance during the week. The hours are from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Saturday at 10014 E. Laurel in Chattaroy. His online store is at jbbees.com.