Inspiring Conversations with David Mathias of FreeRangeBeehives.com

Today we’d like to introduce you to David Mathias.

David, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My business partner, Mike Rosol, and I have worked together in the Denver Business Community for the past 30 years. As we were having coffee last year, Mike suggested that he wanted to sell corporate beekeeping programs to businesses that were looking for manageable sustainability projects. These projects can lend to a variety of “green building” accreditations and many businesses are looking for ways to help the cause and through public relations, draw attention to their efforts. We also are working with institutions that see value in the honeybee hive program for educational purposes and for staff and employee wellness. The fun part of what we do is to come out in the fall and capture the honey and brand and bottle it for our customers. If you are a restaurant, for example, what would be better than using your honey in recipes, craft beer making, or selling your branded honey at your location(s)? It’s a win-win-win for everyone, but most importantly, we together are helping the honeybee population and supporting the valuable pollination work they do – because really, if we lose the honeybee population, what are we humans going to eat?

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
We have had overwhelming support from the business community. Since we are bootstrapping this business ourselves, money is always a challenge, but both Mike and I have been involved in multiple startups and have countless contacts across the front range community.

We’ve been impressed with FreeRangeBeehives.com, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We are two dads and two sons that are in partnership together in this business. We are all mission-driven to help the honeybee population thrive and recover from their current state of distress. We lose up to 50% of our honeybee colonies each year due to collapse. We feel strongly that business is at least partially responsible for this, and therefore should be part of the solution. Our service is entirely turnkey in the sense that we install, maintain, and care for the honeybee hives. I largely handle the front end of the business, which is mostly sales & marketing at this point, and Mike, being an experienced beekeeper, handles the logistics and wellbeing of the hives. Our sons also bring unique experiences to the business from a scientific and real estate perspective. We are most proud to be involved in something that is so purposeful. While we’ve had great business careers, I think the Covid pandemic has forced us to rethink how we want to spend our time, what kind of relationships we want to create, and what mark we want to leave on earth. We are proud of the work we are doing, the brand we are building, and excited to create a business that can scale to other cities and geographies. I think all four of us can agree that we’ve never had more fun going to work!

So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
Any interested parties who want to offer support can begin by following our LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/freerangebeehives. This helps us grow our presence along the front range, and will keep people informed of our progress. We also post many fascinating articles and videos there so that people can learn more about these fascinating creatures. We are also looking for organizations and non-profits that want the honeybees and honey, but cannot afford the cost. So, anyone interested in donating a program or organization that would like to receive a hive system should contact us.

Contact Info:

• Email: david@freerangebeehives.com
• Website: www.freerangebeehives.com

Image Credits
Linden Schaible