How the Honey Bee flatware pattern came to bee!

By: Nichole Grant

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“Honeybees! They’re everywhere, “ that’s what Alice Roberts told her husband Matt Roberts while thinking of new flatware patterns for Sherrill Manufacturing brand Liberty Tabletop. Matt is the President and Co-Founder of Sherrill Manufacturing/Liberty Tabletop and Alice is his “beautiful bride,” as he calls her, his wife of 33 years who also happens to be the Human Resources Manager at Sherrill Manufacturing/Liberty Tabletop. By following her intuition, a bit of Pinterest and her love of shopping, Alice was on to something, and she was right!

This Summer we designed the Honey Bee pattern and by Fall it was almost ready. We released Honeybee with our pre-sale starting in October and it took off! People are loving this unique design and we’re happy that Alice shared her idea and her love of honeybees with us! When it comes to honeybees, for Alice, it’s not just a fad or a style but a fond memory of her father, David Taylor.

He was a beekeeper! As a little girl, Alice grew up locally in Oneida, N.Y. watching her dad tend to his honeybees right on their own property. “I used to go to the honey house with him and watch him load the honeycomb catcher (filled frame) into the honey extractor.” After this, Alice said the machine would spin, and then when it was finished, he was able to cut the wax off. Alice’s father would make and sell honey, honeycomb, and wax candles.

Three years ago Alice’s father passed away but his legacy lives on in her family with their love of honeybees. “My sisters and I gravitated towards bees to commemorate his life. It’s just a nice way to keep his memory alive, so that’s why we’re all so into bees,” said Alice.

Alice remembers that beekeeping was a hobby and a second income for her father and family. Not only was the business a fun hobby but it also helped to support her family. Alice is the middle child of David and Connie’s five children. Her older brother David Jr. worked in the factory for many years.  Her younger brother Tim Taylor also works here, maintaining the equipment and facility.  It’s really a family affair!  She remembered her mom would bring her Dad’s honey and sell it at work. The business was mostly word of mouth and they sold their honey locally in their area to friends and family.

While caring for honeybees, a beekeeper has to suit up so to speak to stay protected from getting stung. “My dad had a mesh hat he would use while working near the honeybees,” Alice said the mesh hat even became a staple for her and her siblings to wear on Halloween.

Although Alice’s dad is no longer here she is always reminded of him when she stops by her family’s property to see her mom. It’s there that her father’s honey house is still standing.

She also said that her family has continued its love of honeybees and that both her brother David and his daughter Maria are both beekeepers as well.

Alice says that her Dad, David began his honey business around 1966 when she was about one year old and continued to run the business for years.  “He loved honeybees and he loved tractors, he just loved the outdoors. He was a great man, a very sweet man.”

Now whenever Alice comes into the factory, she and Tim have a new reminder of their father’s memory with our honeybee flatware.

After creating the Honey Bee design we wanted to do something that could help with honeybee research and also assist others in their beekeeping efforts. With this in mind, we did some research and discovered the Pollinator Research Fund at Cornell University. Liberty Tabletop is proud to announce that we have partnered with the Pollinator Health Research Fund at Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Sciences to donate a portion of our proceeds from the Honey Bee design to assist with honeybee research.

 

For every Honey Bee set sold, we will donate $1 to the Pollinator Health Research Fund. The Cornell Honey Bee Research Fund is dedicated to promoting healthy pollinators for US agriculture. Cornell University offers science and education programs for students and community members to continue the growing efforts of honey bee health and sustainability.

To learn more about the Liberty Tabletop Honey Bee flatware pattern visit the Honey Bee flatware webpage here.