Busy as bees: Texas-side farmers market opens

You never know what you may find at a farmers market. In the case of Texarkana, Texas, Farmers Market, you have beekeepers selling their wares, such as Bowie Bee Apiary. From the expected, like honey and lots of it, to more exotic, like lip balm using beeswax, the keepers of Bowie Bee Apiary say the key to an operation like this is "hard work, loving bees."
You never know what you may find at a farmers market. In the case of Texarkana, Texas, Farmers Market, you have beekeepers selling their wares, such as Bowie Bee Apiary. From the expected, like honey and lots of it, to more exotic, like lip balm using beeswax, the keepers of Bowie Bee Apiary say the key to an operation like this is "hard work, loving bees."

TEXARKANA, Texas - The long-awaited farmers market season on the Texas side officially opened Saturday.

Enthusiastic crowds assembled to see the goods on display at the square across from City Hall.

Musicians entertained the browsers while the familiar yellow food truck of Lot 1621 had moved from its customary resting place on Texas Boulevard to provide shoppers with locally sourced breakfasts.

Among the more unusual items available were the products of Bowie Bee Apiary, a bee keeper operation out of New Boston, Texas. Operating for about eight years, this is their third year to appear at the Texarkana, Texas, Farmers Market. Co-owned by Sarah Clinesmith and Robbie Robinson, they see the market as a reason to gather and socialize with their fellow producers as well as sell their wares. Robinson sees the chief advantage of the farmers market as a place where customers can see things like this they might not otherwise see.

"Under one tent, this is an opportunity for farmers, growers and producers to be in one spot they otherwise likely would not," he said. "A place where your hard work can be seen by others."

Hard work is how he describes beekeeping.

"Bees are not easy to keep," he said. "They require lots of work to care for. You have to love them. And we do."

Bowie Bee Apiary handles about 20-30 different hives. They describe business the first Dayan the farmers market as tremendous.

"It has been really fantastic," said Clinesmith, briefly consulting her ledger (she handles the business side of things). "Lots of sales today, really pleased with it. Our biggest movers have been creamed honey, honey-filled straws and our lip balm mostly made out of beeswax."

Meat producers also made it out to the market, such as the proprietors of Dutch Spring Farm, an operation out of Atlanta, Texas. Joe and Sarah Thrash specialize in "nourishing food raised with integrity that can feed your family with confidence."

"Naturally raised meats," said Joe, a retired engineer who concluded a long career out at Red River Army Depot and entered the animal husbandry trade with his wife.

"This is now our full-time job going on four years," he said. "I was an engineer, my wife was a nurse. I focus on the livestock, she bakes and embroiders. I handle most of the business side as well."

He sees his farm as filling the need for a healthier alternative where a customer can see how and where the animal goods they purchased are raised.

"I think more and more people are interested in what we do, as well as what we produce," he said.

He describes this year's farmers market as the best in their four years of doing this.

"There's been a steady flow of buying today," he said. "In the past, on the first day, people were more of the browsing sort, buying later. Today, right out of the gate, they are buying our products."

(The Texarkana, Texas, Farmers Market opens on Saturdays to July, though depending on weather and the growing season, may be extended.)

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