Bee Cave Resident Brie Cunningham is just 15 years old and has come a long way when it comes to her attitude about bees. As a young child, she remembers being afraid of these important insects but about five years ago she started helping her parents with their beehives and she quickly became hooked.
“I went to Bee School in Brenham and just kept learning everything I could about bees. I respect how bees rely on each other and work their entire lives to make honey and benefit their hives,” Cunningham said.
Cunningham eventually became a beekeeper herself and currently takes care of six hives that each house about 50,000 bees. Cunningham believes in using natural beekeeping techniques to keep her hives healthy. This includes avoiding pesticides and other harmful chemicals. Her family also lets the vegetation around their Bee Cave home grow naturally, so the bees have a healthy habitat.
“I use essential oils to deter beetles and other bugs from getting into the hives. And I try not to disturb the hives very much,” Cunningham explained.
Cunningham’s work appears to be paying off. She is not seeing the troubling trend of colony losses that many other beekeepers are dealing with right now. A recent nationwide survey of beekeepers by Project Apis, showed “alarming losses, which surpass historical trends". Commercial operations show an average loss of 62% between June 2024 and February 2025. With fewer bees to pollinate, agricultural crop yields decrease, and food prices often go up. Scientists are not sure of the cause of these disturbing losses but the theory is it’s a combination of factors including changes in the environment and insect viruses.
Cunningham is passionate about educating the public about the role bees play in the ecosystem and the importance of protecting bees. She has partnered with a local organization, Bees-For-All, to present at local community events like Books and Bees. In fact, Cunningham’s local honey won the Books and Bees honey-tasting contest in 2024.
Cunningham’s honey can be found online at juniperhillhoneyco.com. She started the business about two years ago and uses beeswax to make natural body care products like lip balm and body butter.
Cunningham continues to learn all she can about bees and hopes her work will raise more awareness of bees so other kids will see they should be protected, not feared.
The public is invited to learn about bees at the 4th annual Books and Bees Festival, taking place Saturday April 12 from 1pm-5pm at the Bee Cave Public Library. The event is free and open to the public. There will be award-winning authors talking about their creative process, nature activities for kids, story times, live music and much more.
Register for the Books and Bees Festival here.