Buddha's Bees

by Nicole Zappone @TheChronicleCT

Nestled into the heart of Chaplin is a beekeeper whose motto is, “If you have the money, he has the honey.”

Resident Peter Polomski has been involved in beekeeping for several years. His business, Buddha’s Bees Apiary, is operated primarily out of his home, along with a few other nearby locations. After retiring from his main job, Polomski was introduced to a beekeeping class offered at the University of Connecticut, which led to the growth of his small business.

“The reason I got into beekeeping was that I used to have a business called the Lily Pad in Willimantic; custom picture framing and art supplies,” Polomski said. “I had a customer who came in to have framing done of wildlife photos. His name was Adam Fuller.” It turns out Fuller was a cabinetmaker and a beekeeper and had been since he was about 18 years old.

“We got to talking about beekeeping, and he said there was a bee school up at UConn at the college of agriculture during the winter,” Polomski said. “It was Wednesday night classes for six weeks and a hundred bucks.” Polomski said he was curious about it, and the class included a complimentary one-year membership in the Connecticut Beekeepers Association. The class, Polomski recalled, was conducted via slideshows, and a package deal from a manufacturer included free framing to make the beehives. “I decided to give it a try, and that had to be about 10 to 15 years ago when I first started,” Polomski said. “I started with two beehives.”

According to Polomski, winters in New England are really tough on bees. “I think the first year, I lost one of the two hives,” Polomski said. “I got another package, which included three to four thousand bees.” The package he ordered came from either North Carolina or Georgia, where the climate differs from that of the Northeast.

“I started to get honey, and I was selling honey at the Lily Pad,” Polomski said.

The Lily Pad ended up closing in 2016, but that only gave Polomski more opportunity to keep up with his honey business. “I decided I could expand the beekeeping, so I added more hives,” Polomski said.

Currently, Polomski has 23 hives spread throughout Chaplin, Hampton, Mansfield and Pomfret. At his Chaplin location, he has about five hives. “Come next year, after I make up my winter losses, I will have about 30 hives,” Polomski said.

When it comes to maintaining all of his hives, Polomski does all of the work himself.

His product of honey comes in a variety of flavors, ranging from ultra-dark to pumpkin spice, lavender, wildflower and more.

The jars of honey can be found in a variety of retail locations such as Brick by Brick in Storrs, Coventry Public Market in Coventry, Head Husky Barbershop in Storrs, Lisa’s Chocolates & Gifts in Mansfield, Trailside Treasure in Columbia, Willimantic Food Co-op in Willimantic and several other locations in the eastern part of the state.

“If you have the money, I have the honey,” Polomski said.

For more information about Buddha’s Bees and Apiary, visit buddhasbeeshoney.com.