Gretchen Bee Ranch

We stopped in here to check out the bee equipment and stumbled upon a Saturday morning class that Mark was teaching on mite control. Mark truly has a passion for beekeeping and it showed in his knowledge of bees and his eagerness to help newbies like us get started. We love to support local businesses and we ended up buying all the tools and equipment that we need to start 2 hives for this coming season. Mark also sells Nucs, which we were wait listed for. He was confident that he would have enough to fill the wait list. I’m looking forward to it!
His shop was well stocked with hive tools, bee suits, hive parts — assembled and unassailable, smokers, honey processing equipment, logs of regional honey!, beeswax products, mite and pest control, and just about everything else you would need. We will definitely be coming here for any thing we need as well as to ask questions to Mark.

Gretchen bee ranch is a great place for new and experienced beekeepers. Mark and Thein are the owners. Being new to bee keeping I found them welcoming and very willing to share their knowledge. They have classes that are offered throughout the year such as intro to beekeeping. Once or twice a month on Saturday they have free, yes free 1 hour seminars (did I mention free?) — this tells you how much these 2 love beekeeping that they want to spread the word. The seminar I attended was learning about smoking your bees, and we had hands on experience. Their shop includes local honey from the 150 hives that they maintain in Frio, Bexar and Guadalupe counties just to name a few. Also beeswax candles, lip balm, creamed honey and Christmas ornaments. I’m sure I’m forgetting other bee products that are sold. Mark sells honey extractors, nucs, queens, and everything else for beekeepers. He has some hives on premises. Their shop is in a residential area and is behind their property but is well marked with yellow flags. I will definitely bee coming back to Gretchens bees ranch.