A life in honey.

• Author: Peterson, Eric
• Position: Honey products from Honeyville - Company Profile

Despite its gooey sweetness, honey is one problematic condiment, mainly because of the toil involved in bringing it to the supermarket. Not only do honey producers pack a mean sting, but beekeeping is extremely time-consuming and labor-intensive.

That's one reason Danny Culhane sold off his bees in 1990. With his wife Sheree, Culhane owns and operates Honeyville, a burgeoning retail and mail order business nine miles north of Durango.

Culhane's father was a Durango-area beekeeper who sold his first crop of honey in 1925 under the Mountain Bouquet brand. In 1986, the Culhanes bought Honeyville, a long-time competitor, and have seen the company s sales triple since.

Now, Honeyville consists of three full-time, year-round employees, plus Danny and Sheree. "My wife and I divide (the work) up. She does all of the catalog work and chooses all of the resale products for the store," Culhane explained. "I run the production end of it and handle the wholesale accounts."

Culhane long ago sold his bees so he could focus on packaging and selling product. The business now buys most of its honey from the same operator who bought its bees.

The retail store underwent an expansion and renovation last year, and incorporated an enclosed, active beehive inside.

Honeyville's mailing list has grown from 2,500...