Santa Barbara Hives to open second location on State Street
Ashley Farrell and Barnaby Draper stand in their Santa Barbara Hives store’s second location, 3328 State St., Santa Barbara.
Local beekeepers will open a second location for their Santa Barbara Hives store Saturday.
Doors will open at 10 a.m. at the store, located at 3328 State St., Santa Barbara. It’s in what used to be an instrumental music business.
The store hours will be from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays.
The business’ partners, Ashley Farrell and Barnaby Draper, are local beekeepers focused on supporting bees, beekeepers and sustainability. In keeping with these values, patrons can expect to find beekeeping resources and support, as well as a treasure trove of bee products, hemp products and local art.
“I have only seen one other bee store in my life in Hudson, NY. We are a local support system for beekeepers,” Mr. Draper told the News-Press.
Ms. Farrell and Mr. Draper, who established the first Santa Barbara Hives location in Carpinteria, emphasized the importance of bees to the ecosystem and the planet.
“The produce section would look very grim without bees,” said Mr. Draper.
Since 1962, 90% of the bees have disappeared, and in the last two years, bees have declined by 45%.
“We are excited to open a store in Santa Barbara because people are so aware, so conscious and they do care,” said Mr. Draper.
“We really just want to be a part of the process of healing the planet and teaching people how to live in balance with the natural world,” Ms. Farrell told the News-Press. “We don’t feel that you need to sacrifice anything to do that. We feel that you can live a quality of life with good products.”
Santa Barbara Hives sells flow hives and other beekeeping supplies to local beekeepers, as well as offer beekeeping services to the community such as rescuing and implementing hives. In addition, the store offers beeswax candles, soy candles, local products from Ojai including seeds and jellies, olive wood products from Tunisia and hemp products.
The owners also offer space for local vendors to sell their products on consignment such as jewelry and ceramics.
Soy candles are sold in the following five fragrances: yuzu blossoms and hinoki, fig leaf and galbanum, tuberose and frangipani, jasmine and neroli, and goji berry and hemp.
“An incredible lip balm is coming soon as well as chest rubs, balms and wellness products for the body,” Ms. Farrell said. “Lots of great products in the works are coming out soon.”
“The State Street store is more of the flagship in that it has bigger capacity,” Mr. Draper explained. “It has a bigger footprint and remains to be seen what kind of food impact we can bring in. In addition, for every item sold, a tree gets planted in Madagascar.”
The owners said the original store in Carpinteria at 516 Palm Ave. has already had tremendous support from the community since 2019 and will soon be expanding operations to offer plant-based foods, ferments and more in a new kitchen.
“We also have a wide variety of locally and sustainably-made gifts of all price points available for holiday shopping season,” said Ms. Farrell.
Because Mr. Draper grew up in France, the store has a French flair to it and features French items for sale such as scarves, mustard, salts and more.
In addition to being the business’ co-owner, Ms. Farrell is a local landscape contractor in Santa Barbara.
“I am actively trying to eliminate grass and install beautiful gardens that are drought tolerant and plants that can feed bees year round,” she said.
Mr. Draper is a photographer by trade and shoots globally for American Express.
email: kzehnder@newspress.com
FYI
Santa Barbara Hives is located at 516 Palm Ave., Carpinteria, and at 10 a.m. Saturday, it will open its second location at 3328 State St., Santa Barbara. For more information, go to santabarbarahives.com.
