A Gift Idea Turns into a Rocky Hill Family Business
A Father’s Day gift of an unassembled beehive kit from Zack Bombaci to his dad Roy changed the direction of their lives forever. “I wanted him to try a new hobby outside of work and yard work,” said Zack.
After the gift was assembled and populated with bees from an apiary or bee farm, they were hooked. Growing from one hive in June 2019 to 11 hives today, the Rocky Hill father/son duo has officially launched a beeswax and honey business called BeeBaci LLC.
“Every hobby I have ends up turning into a side business,” said Roy. In the past, he has had an aquarium business and operated a barbecue food truck. The more research Roy did during the late-night hours, the more he knew a business could be built around beekeeping.
“I didn’t want to throw away the wax, so we started to make products from it,” said Roy, adding their first product was an all-natural lip balm followed by a hand balm. “Our friends and family loved the products we made so I did more research and we decided to create a full line.” The BeeBaci line includes lavender, coconut, and natural bee balm, creme and butter in multiple sizes; strawberry, mint and natural lip balm; small and large molded beeswax blocks; and pure honey, with a plan to produce tattoo butter and wood polish in the near future.
Their goal is to grow to 100 hives over four years and eventually buy land to house the bee stands and sugar board boxes they build together that keep the bees protected during the colder months. With the queen bee producing 1,500 babies a day, a hive typically starts with 1,000 to 3,000 bees and can multiply to 60,000 bees over four months.
Being a beekeeper is serious and important work, especially with the decline of the honeybee population. “I love being outdoors and I love animals, so this made perfect sense for me,” said Roy, a retired police detective who now works as a safety officer.
Suited up in protective face and body gear, Zack and Roy work together in the bee yard housed at a local farm to inspect the hives, collect the beeswax and honey produced by the bees, and assemble bee stands and sugar board boxes made from repurposed wood and palettes. They will also build and weld 16’ x16’ cages to protect the bees from the bears for their use on their future farm, as well as other potential beekeepers down the road. Zack, who graduated from Lincoln Technical Institute, also handles the technology management for the new business, as well as assists Roy with sales and marketing.
The BeeBaci product line will be featured at local fairs and festivals in 2022, as well as sold at the Love Your Mental Health Art & Wellness Studio in Chester. “Within five years, I hope to be doing this full time along with Zack,” said Roy.
Now 27 years old, Zack will invest his time and energy to grow the new business. “It’s fun work,” he said. “I love that I get to help save bees. And I know this can be a profitable business for us.”
