Small businesses sweat in western Travis County & a trip to Texas Honey Bee Farm

Trending now

Morning Breakdown

Small businesses sweat in western Travis County & a trip to Texas Honey Bee Farm

By Olivia Aldridge | 11:18 AM Jan 20, 2023 CST
Updated 11:45 AM Jan 20, 2023 CST

Photo of a woman in a bee suit holding up a honeycomb full of bees. — Master beekeeper Tanya Phillips examines one of the hives at Texas Honey Bee Farm. (Olivia Aldridge/Community Impact)

Master beekeeper Tanya Phillips examines one of the hives at Texas Honey Bee Farm. (Olivia Aldridge/Community Impact)

If you drive past the Y in Oak Hill down Hwy. 290, you may have noticed signs pointing to a place called Texas Honey Bee Farm. Those signs continue off the highway, onto Weir Loop Circle and down the driveway of an apiary, where they become handpainted with bee facts, such as, “Honey Bees can recognize individual human faces.”

The face the bees on Texas Honey Bee Farm know best must be that of Tanya Phillips, the master beekeeper behind the operation. She keeps 26 hives on this property in addition to around 80 more in other locations.

The Jan. 20 episode of the Austin Breakdown podcast takes a trip to Phillips' farm, even diving into a few beehives. Plus, Community Impact reporter Taylor Cripe brings a report on the state of small business in western Travis County.

By Olivia Aldridge

Host & Producer

Olivia hosts and produces Community Impact Newspaper's podcasts, the Austin Breakdown, the Houston Breakdown and the DFW Breakdown. She launched the podcasts after nearly three years as a reporter for the newspaper, covering public health, business, development and Travis County government for the Central Austin edition. Olivia worked as a reporter and producer for South Carolina Public Radio before moving to Texas. You can follow her on Twitter @ojaldridge.