ABOUT

Rootflux Bee Co. is a beekeeping + candlemaking operation based in the Hudson Valley of New York. We aim to cultivate a resilient honeybee, ecology, and community. Our beekeeping practices prioritize putting the bees and their needs first. We place our apiaries in locations with diverse flora to nourish them throughout the seasons and we only harvest surplus honey. From our locally adopted survivor stock, we select for hygienic, gentle, and productive traits. The bees know what they are doing, we just have to listen.

the beekeeper

Kristi Kaye (nicknamed Kaat) has been in love with the bees since she was twelve years old. It all started with an observation hive at the local county fair and after a year of obsessive research, Kaat managed to convince her parents to let her get a hive. She was the fifteen year old inspecting the bees in flip flops and building an observation hive out of a 10 gallon fish tank.

With her home in the form of a backpack, Kaat traveled all over the USA and she worked with several small farms and beekeepers along the way. Her experiences ranged from top bar hive beekeeping in Jamaica with Les Crowder, to chasing feral bees in the canyons of New Mexico with Melanie Kirby, queen rearing & almond pollination with John Jacob in Oregon, queen catching and honey harvesting with Kirk Webster in Vermont. With the guidance of her mentors, Kaat was able to explore a wide diversity of operations, techniques, and perspectives around beekeeping. While on the road, Kaat witnessed the true cost of conventional agriculture which deepened her passion for supporting local regenerative food systems and communities.

Kaat returned her stomping grounds of the Hudson Valley of New York in 2018 to establish her apiary. She loves working with these little teachers who send her home smelling of smoke and honey.

the name

ROOT: (v) establish deeply and firmly; to derive nourishment from the ground.

FLUX: (n) the action or process of flowing or flowing out; in a constant state of movement.

ROOTFLUX originates from the five years Kaat spent wandering all over the country. She was rooted in her mission to explore where our food comes from and what living a simple life means. Similar to how the bees are rooted in their nest while scouting their locale for food and medicine. And how flowers are rooted into place, coevolved with pollinators who are their their flux.