After 9/11, Monroe commuter kicks back with honey business

After the events on Sept. 11, 2001, Frank Licata decided he had had enough of commuting to New York City from the Poconos, so he took an early retirement from his software job in the city and came home to stay.

As a child, he knew a fellow he thought of as an old man who raised bees. (In reality, the old man was only in his 50s, Licata said with a smile.) So with some time on his hands, he looked him up and found him. Jerry was his name.

Jerry was a master beekeeper, and he taught Licata everything he knew about bees.

With that knowledge in hand, Licata bought some bees and started keeping his own hives. He joined a beekeeping club, studied more about bees, and became a master beekeeper.

“It’s a very relaxing hobby,” he said.

Then an opportunity came up to take a job as the operations manager at Mann Lake Limited at its office in Wilkes-Barre. Mann Lake has several offices and is a nationwide supplier of everything customers need for beekeeping, from bees and hives to packaging supplies and books. The company also offers free classes about beekeeping for beginners to those with experience. Licata started teaching classes at the Wilkes-Barre office. He continues to do so and travels around the country teaching beekeeping and visiting commercial bee farms to assist them in their needs.

So much for retirement.

The story doesn’t end there.

A former college classmate showed up to take the class. Pam Lavelle of Bushkill said her sister sparked in her the bee keeping curiosity.

“It’s so much fun,” Lavelle said about beekeeping.

Now four years later, she has five hives of her own, and helps Licata with his 150 hives in eight different locations in Susquehanna, Monroe and Pike counties.

Licata owns Bramble Ridge Honey Farm in Brodheadsville — a hobby turned small business.

“Raw honey is in high demand,” he said.

Every summer, he sells the 6,000 pounds of honey he’s harvested.

In addition to raw honey, Licata also sells honeycomb and products made with honey including soap, lotion and lip balm in a variety of scents and flavors. According to the company’s website, the soaps and lotions come in apple, oatmeal and honey, raspberry vanilla, blackberry sage, lavender, lemon grass, ginger lime, peony, bamboo mint, smoky bay leaf, vanilla, spearmint eucalyptus, and soon pumpkin spice.

Everything is made with natural ingredients, such as shea butter, mango butter, coconut oil, cocoa butter, honey and beeswax.

The flavors of honey are a little more dependent on nature. In the spring, the bees visit the black locust, tulip poplar, blackberry and raspberry blossoms. Summertime brings basswood. And goldenrod, aster and Japanese knotweed are big producers of nectar in autumn.

“Our hives are all kept in a natural way. We use no pesticides in our hives. That makes our jobs even harder, but to us, it’s worth it,” the Bramble Ridge website states. “We don’t want any additional chemicals in our bodies, and we are sure you don’t want any in yours either.”

Licata said each hive has 40,000 bees. He spreads them out over so many locations “where they’re not competing against each other. Where they can forage all sorts of wildflowers,” he said. Honeybees will fly only up to 3 miles from their hive.

“Honeybees are not aggressive. They are defensive,” Licata said. “Each bee has its own job, but they function as one organism. They do what’s good for the hive. They instinctively know that when they sting you, they die. When they sting you, they think they are doing it for the good of their hive.”

Licata products can be purchased at farmers markets, festivals and at local specialty shops. Orders cannot be made through its website, but patrons can call or email them to place an order. For more information about Bramble Ridge Honey Farm, go to www.brambleridgehoneyfarm.com or check them out on Facebook.