(upbeat music) - Welcome to "Forum 360" on PBS Western Reserve.

I'm Stephanie York, your host today.

Thank you for joining us for a global outlook with a local view.

What's the buzz around Akron?

It's Akron Honey of course.

Brent Wesley, beekeeper and founder of Akron Honey, took two blighted vacant city lots and created two urban honeybee apiaries, making Akron Honey a model of sustainability.

Akron Honey raises honeybees in Akron's neighborhoods.

They harvest only their surplus of honey in small batches without filtering or straining.

Why is this news?

What's the buzz?

Well, we'll find out today.

Thank you Brent, Wesley the Keeper, as I'm told, for joining us today.

(Brent laughing) - I was waiting for you to say that.

Wesley the.

- Wesley the Keeper.

- And thank you for having me.

I appreciate it.

- Of course.

- Yeah.

- Of course.

So can you tell me a little bit about yourself, your background, and how you ended up as Wesley the Keeper?

- Yeah, it's kind of crazy.

So back in like 2010, 2011, 2013, I was working full-time with Verizon Corporate and I was with them like for 15 years, really long time.

And there was this vacant lot around the corner from our house.

And this is like 2013.

And I don't know.

I'd bought it.

And like here's the thing, being married, we bought it, right?

- Sure, sure.

- So I had to ask first.

So I asked, I gotta tell my wife.

- You're a good man.

- I love my wife, it's a team sport.

- Of course.

- My wife let me buy it.

And then, you know, off we went.

I just Googled how to keep bees.

A lot of folks did, classes and stuff.

I'm just like a hands-on learner.

So I just Googled how to keep bees and just started harvesting honey.

And off we went.

- Okay, so I gotta ask you.

- What was the first moment that made you say, I wanna have a beehive?

- All right, that's a really good question.

A lot of interviews don't ask that question, but I'm gonna answer that.

Can I answer that real quick?

- Please, please, I need to know.

- So there are two things that happened.

- So former life, well, current life, a musician as well.

It was Wesley Bright and the Highlights and then Wesley Bright and the Honey Tones.

- Oh yeah.

- Did you know that?

- I don't know if you do.

- I do.

I mean, I've heard of that.

I didn't know it was you.

- Yeah, yes.

So yeah, it's the same person.

- Got it now.

It's all clicking.

- I don't know the camera, like there you go.

(Brent laughing) - And the Honey Tones.

I remember that.

- And the Honey Tones.

Exactly.

So, back when we were playing out a lot, my guitar player brought some honey to rehearsal once, and it was like from his beekeeper friends.

- And the thing is when your beekeeper friends bring you honey, it's like the rawest stuff.

It's like they just pull it out.

- Right.

- And it was.

It was super raw and he didn't want it, because he said there's a lot of, he said there was bee parts and stuff in there.

I was like, okay.

- Oh yeah, yeah.

- So I tasted it.

I was like, holy crap.

This is like really, really good.

- Right?

- And then I'm like, all right, so, then like about two weeks later, my wife and I went down to Amish country.

- Yes.

- I think it was Berlin.

I think it was Berlin.

- And they had this honey on tap system.

- Ooh.

- And it was nice and warm.

It was like delicious.

And you gotta understand that's the first, those are the first instances in which I had honey that wasn't from the shelf, so I'm like all these are happening at one time.

I'm getting this experience with honey and then we're buying this vacant lot.

And so it all clicked.

I'm like, okay, we gotta do honeybees.

'Cause I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do, maybe urban farming, whatever, but like honey bees.

- And that was kind of it.

- That was it.

- That was the thing, yeah.

- So what made you think you could make honey?

Like you could actually make a business out of this?

- I actually didn't.

- You didn't?

(Brent laughing) So you just said, okay, we're gonna try this bee thing.

- Yeah, yeah.

- And see what happens, just for fun to start.

- Yeah, I just didn't want to have to buy honey again.

It wasn't supposed to be a business.

- It was just gonna like, I intend, here's the thing.

I intended on working with Verizon for the rest of my life.

I was making good money.

- Benefits are stacking up.

- It was, great life.

The family is growing.

- My wife could stay at home.

- And it was really good.

And I intended on staying there.

However, I guess the way in which it turned into a business is from, I was just listening to what people were saying.

They were saying, "Let me buy that.

Let me buy that."

So now you have like kind of proof of concept.

People are able and willing to buy your stuff, whatever that is.

- And then, I don't know, I just kind of followed that path.

I just kind of just kept on doing what they were asking us to do.

"We need to buy more honey."

So we just started getting more hives, and like I know you mentioned in the intro that there were two vacant lots.

- Yes.

- And that's true.

The first one was in 2013.

Second one we bought was in East Akron, 2015.

So we just kept on doing with our consumers, which are now known of our as our honey loves.

We're doing what our honey loves were asking us to do, just listen to them, and they like provided us the path.

- So do you have two now or even more?

- Oh, we got two.

- Okay.

- And the very business plan, the business model has evolved from just harvesting our own honey to partnering with bigger, not even bigger, but other local beekeepers who can have 500, 1000 hives.

- Oh wow.

- And we can tap their hives, get the raw wildflower honey.

- Oh wow.

- And then, yeah.

And then we can flavor, 'cause we're really in the flavor game.

and the food experience.

- Yes, so we gotta talk about that too, of course.

- And I didn't, look, we have this bare table.

I didn't bring any honey.

I'm sorry about that.

- I know.

I was hoping for some samples.

(Brent laughing) - That's my bad.

I didn't wanna make this thing about like, oh here's these products.

Like, I just wanted to just shoot it up and just talk and talk, you know what I mean?

- Sure, that's all good.

- Yeah.

- I'll expect some later though.

- Yeah, you'll get some later.

I should have have, that's my bad, and yeah, yeah, that's my bad.

- So tell me more about bees.

We've heard a lot about how bees are becoming extinct.

Is that true?

Honey bees?

- I don't believe it.

- You don't?

- No, I think that honey bees have never had a problem other than a human problem.

- Okay.

- We, humans are interesting, in on one day we'll say, "Oh, we're going to save the bees and save the world."

But then on the other day, we'll say- - You're calling the exterminator.

- Yeah, call in the exterminator.

- Because there's a hive that's on your tree that you don't want.

- Exactly, exactly.

'Cause it makes your life inconvenient, our lives inconvenient.

I'm human too, so I'm gonna say our lives inconvenient.

- So like, it's not that they're going extinct.

It's that we are just having our way with the world.

That's kind of like, that's the problem.

I mean, they didn't have a problem.

They've been around for billions of years.

They didn't have a problem until we came along.

- Right, right.

- We're kind of new to the scene.

- Sure.

So how did you even know what to do?

- The internet.

- Did you just Google?

- Internet.

- How'd that?

Really?

- Internet and experience.

- That's, so it's fascinating.

- Yeah, you just.

- I mean you had no bee experience when you started this.

- No I actually, just the opposite.

I remember it was like 2009.

My wife and I went to Home Depot 'cause we were building a pergola.

- Okay.

- Well actually I built a pergola.

Now we're trying to figure out plants that could grow up the pergola.

- Right.

- Like vines.

- So we have that too.

- Exactly.

So it's nice and pretty and makes your home and everything.

- Honeysuckle works.

- Exactly.

- And now I remember, that's what, it was a young lady who was helping us out.

She's like, "Okay, we have this kind, this kind of honeysuckle."

We're like, oh, honeysuckle.

We're like okay, it'll attract bees.

And I'm like, no.

I literally said no.

- Oh.

That's how, that's how much I did not know about it.

That's how little I knew about honeybees.

- Right, you're like no bees.

- I know, 'cause I'm gonna get stung.

I knew nothing.

I knew nothing at all.

- That's awesome.

- Yeah.

- That's awesome.

- Yeah, so I just learned everything as I went along.

Like I'm the type of person, you give me a little nugget and I'll figure things out.

I'd rather it be like that.

- Right.

- Yeah.

- So a lot of people are afraid of bees.

- Yes.

- As we were talking about.

- Yeah.

- Should they be?

- I mean, unless they're allergic to.

But honestly you still, you still- - I mean are they?

Do they like come after you?

- Nah, they don't come at you.

- Do they only sting if they're threatened?

- Mm-hmm.

- Yes?

- Yeah, and even if they're threatened, they don't always sting you.

You know what I mean?

Like they'll give you warnings.

They'll like, flying, they'll headbutt you.

- Oh interesting.

- Yeah.

And they'll just like, let you know, like get out of here, get out of here.

And sometimes they'll release pheromone that kind of smells like a little bit like banana-ish.

And it's a trigger for the rest of the hive to get more defensive.

- Interesting.

- And if you've been stung before and smelled that, psychologically, anytime you smell that, you start feeling stings.

So like, that's another part of their defense mechanism where they'd rather not sting you.

They'd rather you just go away.

- Is it true that if they sting you they die?

- Yeah.

If they sting us, they die, because their barbs get stuck in there and they pull it out, which detaches from their body and then they die.

They're very selfless.

- Yeah.

So they'll die.

But if they can sting other insects multiple times, 'cause- - Oh they can?

Just not people?

- Yeah, yeah.

- Wow, I didn't know that.

- Mm-hmm.

- Bees, wasps, I mean they're, are they all related?

- I mean yeah, they are, they're kind of of related.

I'm not a bee expert on that note.

- Yeah, yeah.

- Like I know there's a relation.

There just some sort of relation amongst the species, I guess.

- Yeah, so tell us about your company.

- Yeah.

- Tell us about your hive?

You're the CEO, the beekeeper.

Is this a family business?

- Yeah.

- Do you have other people that are invested in it?

How do, tell me about it.

- Yeah, so it's a family business.

- Awesome, you have a big family.

- Got a big family, still growing into it.

- Good.

- It started, I was, again, it started as a passion, me doing my thing.

But like everyone else is starting to grow into it.

It's pretty obvious to see, if you look at our socials Akron Honey on Instagram, they asked you when it's most lit.

And you'll see family members pop up, and they're in production and they're doing pouring honey.

And then they're folding these beautiful super soft sweatshirts.

- Awesome.

- And putting the bow around 'em and everything.

But like, our brand, look, I'll tell you about our brand.

Like our brand is, we are super fun and delicious honey brand.

And we're really led by like flavor.

- Right, we're gonna get into that.

- Where it's, Yeah.

- Yeah.

It's like, yeah.

So we're crazy different.

We're, it's not about the jar of honey.

It's not.

It's about your food.

When I'm saying food, I'm talking about food, beverage like tea, your toast, your biscuits, whatever.

- Right.

- And we look at that and then we create flavors that taste really, really good with those things.

- And you say it's not about the jar, but I hear, and I've seen your jar is pretty sleek looking.

- And they look good, don't they.

- Yeah, they're kind of like modern, like a modern mason jar.

- Yeah.

- But they're like tall and thin.

- Tall and thin.

Like a little modern designs, kind of like you've got, you know, it's grocery store versus Ikea.

- Yeah, like you could like display these, right?

- Yeah, yeah.

- 'Cause they look really cool.

- Yeah, that's a part of the design concept, is that we want it to look so beautiful that folks keep it on their cupboard, or keep it on their counter rather than in they're cupboard, and they take pictures of it and put it on Instagram, and Etsy, and Pinterest, and all that stuff.

- And so where do you sell this?

- All over the place now?

- It used to be before, so just for reference, I jumped into this.

Although it's been a side hustle for many years, since 2013.

I jumped into this full-time 2021.

- [Stephanie] Okay.

- It was a full-time brand 2021, before that- - So it's only been a couple years that it's been full-time.

- Yeah, yeah.

And we went from before, full-time, like pretty much one distribution point like Northside Marketplace to- - That's where I saw you first.

- That's where you saw us first.

- Yes.

- Right.

'Cause they have the incubator there.

That was big news, eBay came there and all that stuff.

- But since then we've been, you can find us at a lot of different restaurants.

- Wow.

- Farmer's Rail.

The Eyeopener.

- Love the Farmer's Rail.

- DeAngelo's, Geraci's up in Cleveland.

Cordelia we're that a really awesome new, it's been rated, I think, one of the best restaurants in the entire country.

And they just opened.

- Wow.

- So like, we're on their menus.

Grocery stores, like a lot of grocery stores have.

We have a lot of success there some.

Giant Eagle Market District, Giant Eagle now, Highlands here in Chicago.

Whole Foods here.

- How do you keep up with this production?

- I don't know.

You just, I don't know.

It's, here's the thing, I've learned from the honeybees.

They're super efficient.

So being around them so much really influenced me to design a model that also works as efficiently as they do.

So, it doesn't take, so just go back a couple years when we first started and until where we ended up now.

I told you how, we talked about how many grocery stores we're in.

We got there with one person besides myself.

One person in production working eight to 15 hours a week.

- Wow.

- That's it.

- [Stephanie] That's it.

So we're able, and the reason why is because our game is looking at the flavor in your food.

So we infuse our honey for flavor that'll taste really awesome with your stuff.

So our process isn't labor intensive.

It really isn't.

So my game really is like a marketing game.

Because one of the problems we're solving is most people are used to honey brands that are just kind of like normal.

They got a normal story.

They're in a little bear.

Maybe they're in the glass bottle, but it's like normal.

We come across as exciting.

We come across as like that brand that's life.

And that's what I want.

And that's the fun part.

If I were doing anything else, I wouldn't want to do it, honestly.

I'll find something else to do.

- Right, so I'm gonna remind our viewers, and those who may have joined late that we are here with Wesley the Beekeeper.

Wesley the Keeper, founder of Akron Honey.

And we are buzzing about honeybees, how Brent was able to start a small business and grow it, and how his passion for learning and sustainability has helped Akron in immeasurable ways.

Now you don't just have this business, you're also enthusiastic about teaching about honeybees, right?

- Yeah, yeah.

Well yeah- - Sustainability and things like that.

- Yeah, well we, here's the idea with anyone who works with us, and especially myself.

If you're rolling with Akron Honey, if you're on the team, whatever, you have to get used to the way of lifting as you climb.

So we're naturally climbing.

We're getting better and better, but we don't wanna just like leave people behind.

In the school system, for instance.

You mentioned teaching.

- Yes.

- Yeah, we've constantly been in the public school system, teaching about honeybees to kids, and it's really purposeful too, because a lot of the kids that you find that don't know anything about, first of all, a lot of the kids don't even know where food comes from.

They didn't when we started.

- Sure.

- And a lot of those kids are black and brown.

It's kind of, it's crazy.

So they look like me, they went through the things that I did, and like they don't know that stuff.

And so to have someone come in, especially someone who looks like them, come in and say, hey, here's this other world.

And by the way, like you could do this too, it's really purposeful and it's really kind of, I'd hope it would be moving.

I'm trying not to sound like conceited about it.

- It is, it is moving.

So here we are in Black History month, talking to a successful, homegrown, African American man that started this business.

Didn't know a darn thing about these.

- Yeah, no, yeah.

(Brent laughing) - Started this business and now is in all the groceries and restaurants around town and you're teaching other black and brown students, kids, families, how to do this.

- Yeah, and I remember, here's the thing, like you and I were talking before this where I grew up, I grew up, we went from the east side of Cleveland, like in the hood to the country in Aurora.

Back in country, I'm saying country, 'cause it was in the 80s.

Although I just shaved, and I don't look like I was born in the 80s, probably the 90's, right.

- You're a baby face.

(Brent laughing) - But I, when I was in Aurora back then, it really wasn't diverse.

It probably isn't that diverse now, but it really wasn't diverse back then.

So like I didn't see anyone who was like me doing these things.

And the importance and the significance of that is that if you don't see people who look like you, talk like you, walk like you, you just won't take your shot.

- Okay.

- You won't shoot your shot 'cause you don't realize it's a shot that you can take.

- Wow, wow.

- So when kids see someone like me, do they, oh, I can keep bees too.

- Absolutely.

And it was, it's amazing.

And it's not just like black and brown kids, like little young.

I remember we did like this Girl Scout troop and one of the girls was really like afraid.

Like I brought like a hive that would, that didn't make it through the winter, so it had dead bees in there.

And so we opened it up and she was just looking through, she was scared, but by the end she's like, "Hey, can I take a couple home and dissect them?"

So like you're turning on lights.

- Yeah.

- You're turning lights, and that's really important.

it's really important that we don't forget to give back, I guess.

Give back, but then like be there.

- Absolutely.

- You know what I mean?

- And you're there for the community.

- Which is, and that's a part of our strategy too.

Like, we could have taken our business and gone up to Cleveland.

a portion of our life savings in a commercial building right in Highland Square, so that we can create this new model of honey experience, but be accessible as well.

- So in this building, do you have specialized equipment?

- Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

- Yeah, I don't know.

- I like that shiny stuff, the stainless steel tanks.

So it pretty much looks like a, it's really small, brewery right now.

- Yeah.

- We're gonna be doing a lot of upgrades over the next two years where it's gonna look like a larger brewery.

So adding garage doors to the front, new flooring, knocking out some walls, creating an outdoor space like a courtyard around the building, and possibly even dipping into a food venture.

- Wow.

- Yeah.

- Now tell us about the flavoring.

- Yeah.

- Tell us.

So I know honey is honey, just plain old honey.

- That's in the Western culture.

That's, most people are like that.

- That's it.

- Like, honey is nothing.

- I put it in my tea.

- And you, it's yes, tea, toast, biscuits, top three ways.

- That's it.

So tell me how else I can use it?

- So you can, here's the thing.

We don't want to challenge our honey loves, we want to enhance how you're using your stuff.

So if you use your stuff, you honey with tea, great.

But just try this bourbon barrel tea or bourbon barrel honey.

- Ooh.

- With that tea.

So we create, like I said, we create flavors based on what people eat.

So we have four flavors right now.

- Okay, let's hear it.

So we got the traditional raw wildflower.

It's nothing surprising.

Just really, really good honey.

Everyone is familiar with it, raw wildflower.

Got it.

But then we have Bourbon Barrel Honey, which came about as a collaboration between us and Cleveland Whiskey where they cut down their barrels for us and we infuse those in our honey for a matter of days.

- Oh, so you use the parts of the barrel?

- Mm-hmm, yeah.

- Awesome.

So the flavor isn't in the alcohol.

- It's in the- - It's in the Okie or whatever.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, exactly.

Now I'm really kicking myself.

We should have had a honey tasting live.

But it's all, it's okay.

- No, no it's all good.

It's all good.

I'm gonna go taste it.

(Brent laughing) - So we got in addition to that we have Hibiscus Honey.

A lot of folks were like, "Yo, you need a fruity flavor."

So we said, okay.

We got a hibiscus.

We just infuse hibiscus flowers in our raw wildflower and it turns it nice, dark, and purple, and tangy, and fruity.

It's like really, really good.

- Yeah.

- And then lastly for those hotheads, people love like spicy stuff.

- Right.

- And I'm not from- - Right, so what is this one?

- It's Habanero Hot Honey.

It's Habanero Hot Honey.

- They do like it hot, yeah.

- So like it's at a slow burn.

It's a beautiful slow burn.

- You might put it on like fried chicken and stuff.

- Yes.

- That's what I could, that's what I would use it for.

- People, this is what folks use habanero for.

They do, pizza is a big trend.

- Oh.

- If you like vegetables.

- Yeah.

- Brussels sprouts, carrots.

- Oh, sounds amazing.

- Asparagus.

- 'Cause I like hot.

- Yeah, yeah, cauliflower.

- It sounds wonderful.

And chicken dishes.

I would put it on my meat, I'm sorry.

- Absolutely, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

- I would, I would.

- You're right amongst the like the top honey loves.

Trust me, that's, everyone's doing that stuff.

- Yeah, yeah.

- Yeah.

- Awesome, okay.

So if I have a bee hive on my property and I don't want it there, should I call the exterminator or should I call a beekeeper to come get it?

- I would just call a beekeeper 'cause we'll come out and get that stuff.

Maybe somebody on my team.

Like I'm not in the bee yard.

I used to be in the bee yard all the time, all the time.

- I figured you started it from scratch, so you had to be out there.

- Yeah, but I've grown the team now, so I have someone keeping our bees for us.

- Good.

- For our Urban Honey.

So just, as far, and I should probably clarify.

We have two different product lines right now.

We've got Urban Honey, which that comes from our lots.

- Yes.

- And then we have our flavor profile, which consists of the four flavors I just, that we just talked about.

- Correct.

- So just FYI, I know we didn't talk about that.

So if y'all are listening, that's what it is.

And by this time, you'll probably have found out that we are working on other things as well, and new flavors, and new product lines.

- Awesome.

So if we call a beekeeper to come get the hives.

What do they do with that?

- They just, the hive is usually- - Just relocate 'em somewhere?

- Yeah, yeah.

So it's usually the swarm that made a hive somewhere.

And then we just come and knock 'em, get 'em in the box, and just take off.

- You wear spacesuits?

- Well you don't have to when you're, (Brent laughing) why you?

Did you write that down to say?

- Spacesuits, I did not.

- Did you?

I did not write that down.

- Oh, that was at the top of your head.

You just said that.

- Yeah.

- Oh, okay.

I just, props, all right.

(Brent laughing) - Right, don't you do have the full gear?

- Yeah, yeah.

So like, it's like a, it looks like a dirty space spacesuit.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

So we don't have to wear that though when we're doing like, capturing a swarm, because swarms have nothing to protect.

They don't, they haven't established a home yet.

They're just in transit and yeah.

- So they don't feel threatened?

- Nah, they don't got, they have no babies to protect.

So they, honeybees are very, very programmed.

They're super programmed.

So like, you don't have to worry about like getting stung during a swarm.

I've seen, I have a friend Emily Mueller.

She has Mueller Honeybee Rescue.

She's awesome.

Every time she goes in with nothing, and she just like, you know.

(Brent vocalizing) Here's the thing though, I don't like getting stung.

- That's quite risky.

- I don't like getting stung and I also realize that we don't know everything about honeybees, so I suit up.

- Yeah.

- I always suited up.

- For sure.

- Yeah, I ain't got time for me getting stung.

- So have you seen the "Bee Movie?"

- Yeah, I've seen it.

- Is it the greatest?

- Why are you asking me about the "Bee movie?"

You were?

(Brent laughing) - Because it just, I just thought about it, you have five kids.

- Yeah, yeah.

- It's gotta be like their favorite movie.

- It is.

- It is like hilarious.

- Every movie is their favorite.

It is funny.

It's funny.

Beekeepers get mad at that stuff though.

- Really why?

- I mean, I don't care, but like- - At the "Bee Movie"?

- Yeah, because it's not, it's not accurate.

But I know it's for entertainment, so I don't, I mean, I don't care.

- It cracked me up.

- Yeah, yeah.

- And I learned like how they work together and I mean obviously they're working actual jobs, like people jobs.

And that's not normal and realistic, but it got me to thinking how they all work together though.

- Yeah, yeah.

- And have their own job amongst the hive.

- Yeah, they all have their own jobs, several jobs usually.

- Right, so as ridiculous as it, they brought it to the most ridiculous amount that you can think of, there's some bit of truth on how honeybees operate.

- Yeah, they have several jobs and then they all sound like Jerry Seinfeld, so like yeah, that's the truth.

The two truths I learned from that movie.

- So you know I know absolutely nothing about bees if I'm asking you these questions, right?

- It's okay, that's great.

- That's why I wanted you here.

I wanted to learn about 'em.

- Yeah, yeah.

- So you have five kids.

- Five kids.

- They're all invested in working with you guys?

- Yeah, they're yeah, and like, so we have two older ones, 15 and 11, who are two girls.

And we only planned on those two.

But then like, my wife and I are getting older, and we were like, oh, well we're good.

And then we have a son.

Oh my gosh, six years later we have a son, great, Sam.

It's a miracle.

And then we have twins, twin boys.

- Oh boy.

And that's when I like, I literally, as soon as we found out I called the doctor, I was like, can I get an appointment?

(both laughing) Bring your sharpest sword, whatever you, so like really yeah, the younger ones are coming up seeing this whole thing.

- That's amazing.

- And they haven't missed a beat.

The older ones, I started doing this when they were like four and one, so it's they've been around for, but the boys.

- For sure.

- I think the boys will probably be way more part of the business than the girls are, because it's just their age.

I didn't start doing this full time until two years ago.

So like, this is all the boys know.

- Anybody, any of your kids allergic to bees that you know of?

- I don't think so.

- Okay, that's a good thing in your business - Yeah, yeah.

(Brent laughing) - I don't want to find out.

- Do you live next door to the vacant lot?

- It is around the corner.

- Okay.

- It's literally right around on corner.

- So That's pretty awesome.

How many employees do you have?

- So we got like one employee right now.

We'll definitely, that's one of our, 2023, we have like this list.

And it's definitely to higher on a production manager.

- Sure.

- The production is pretty freaking easy.

But like we need someone to do that, so that I can free myself up to go do other things, maybe develop new product lines.

Like we stumbled upon making this high sweet hibiscus tea after.

So after we make our hibiscus honey, we were left with buckets of hibiscus flowers soaked in it, soaked in honey.

And so we just brewed it, right?

- Yeah.

- And then we thought that we were on the verge of a really awesome hibiscus tea, which we were, but then we didn't realize that the chemical composition was actually creating a situation where fermentation was gonna happen, so you got this beautiful sparkling hibiscus beverage now that we have that probably has the same properties as like kombucha, but it tastes really good.

- Oh wow.

- We're, 2023 is- - So there's a science behind all this too.

- Yeah, certain acids in the honey that are the same acids that are found in the fermentation process of beer, and wine, and things like that.

- So like 10 years ago, would you ever think you'd be sitting here talking about the science behind honey and the acids and the composition and the?

Mind blown, right?

- No, no.

- I thought I'd be talking about cell phones and stuff.

(Brent laughing) - Can you hear me now?

- Right, exactly.

(Stephanie laughing) Exactly.

- So I wanna thank you Brent, for a great discussion about Akron Honey.

- [Brent] Thank you.

- We now know that Akron Honey is a company inspired from your passion to learn, grow, and create.

You have not only helped in the effort to save our honey bees, which are not probably gonna be extinct anytime soon, but you have created a truly great product all while teaching others our youth and the community in particular how to be good stewards of our environment.

You are a model of inju, I can't even say that word, why did I write it?

Inju- - [Brent] Ingenuity?

- Ingenuity, thank you.

- I didn't see, I knew you were talking about.

- Yeah, it's one of those things.

That can and has inspired others to be themselves.

- I know.

- Be compassionate and be good.

(Brent laughing) I'm Stephanie York, thank you for joining us today on 'Forum 360" for a global outlook with a local view.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Forum 360 is brought to you by John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Akron Community Foundation, Hudson Community Television, the Rubber City Radio Group, Shaw Jewish Community Center of Akron, Blue Green, the Electric Impulse Communications, and "Form 360" supporters.