Community Highlights: Meet Alex Mizell of Mizell Honey

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Mizell.

Hi Alex, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
When COVID hit in 2020, my now-wife, Samantha, and I made the decision to move from Atlanta back to my hometown in South Georgia. Like many people during that time, we were trying to navigate an uncertain future. After nearly a year of the pandemic, we realized that putting down roots in my hometown made sense for us. In a rural area with limited job opportunities, entrepreneurship can be an important way to create opportunities and build something meaningful.

I had always been passionate about agriculture and apiculture. I kept hobby hives in high school and grew up with several family members involved in the beekeeping industry. Eventually, I decided to turn that passion into a business. But I didn’t just want to start a beekeeping company. I wanted to build something sustainable, scalable, and positively impactful for the industry and our community.

From the beginning, I envisioned Mizell Honey as a multifaceted business. I wanted to build a thriving apiary that offered pollination services, bee sales, honey, and value-added products such as beeswax candles and soaps. At the same time, I saw an opportunity to serve fellow beekeepers through customizable equipment.

Beekeeping is an incredibly diverse industry, and no two beekeepers operate exactly the same way. I wanted to create equipment that could be customized to meet individual needs while remaining more affordable and accessible. Although there were already established companies in the equipment market, I believed there was room for a business that prioritized flexibility, affordability, and personal relationships with customers.

The vision was ambitious, and I knew Samantha and I couldn’t build it alone. That’s when I asked my parents, Cheryl and Allen Mizell, to take a leap of faith and join me as founders. Thankfully, they said yes.

I brought my beekeeping experience, sales knowledge, and carpentry skills to the business, while my dad contributed decades of extensive carpentry knowledge from his career as a contractor. Together, we had a combination of skills that allowed us to turn the idea into something tangible.

We officially started Mizell Honey in October 2021, working out of the garage at Samantha and my home with a combined initial investment of just $5,000. In those early days, I spent countless hours finding the best prices on lumber and other materials while reaching out to commercial beekeepers in our community, asking them to take a chance on us.

Our first customer was my cousin, who ordered a load of bee boxes. From there, things began to grow. Our customer base started locally, then expanded to North Georgia and eventually Florida. For approximately two and a half years, we operated out of our garage until we had simply outgrown the space.

In April 2024, we took another leap of faith and purchased our first commercial shop building. Since then, Mizell Honey has continued to expand, serving commercial beekeepers and hobbyists across the country and producing equipment by the truckload. We expanded our shop in early 2026 and already have another expansion planned for 2027.

Over the past five years, we’ve invested in equipment to better serve our customers, created seven jobs in our community, grown our apiary to a commercial scale, and provided pollination services to numerous farms with hundreds of hives. We’ve also had the opportunity to become more involved and more vocal in our community, which is something we’re incredibly proud of.

One thing that makes our story particularly meaningful is that we built the business without making additional personal financial investments beyond our original $5,000. Through hard work, reinvestment, and the support of our customers and community, we’ve been able to grow something that continues to create opportunities for our family, our employees, and the beekeeping industry.

At the heart of Mizell Honey is our family. My dad and I manage the day-to-day operations, running the shop, working the bees, and building relationships with customers. My brother-in-law, Ethan, works full-time at the shop, managing our employees and helping ensure everything runs smoothly. Samantha works closely with customers while managing and building our brand, including our website and marketing efforts. My mom, Cheryl, does a little bit of everything, from helping in the shop to making supply runs and supporting wherever she’s needed.

Everyone plays an important role, and that’s what makes this business so special. We’re not just building a company; we’re building something together as a family. We’re excited about what the future holds and hope to continue growing Mizell Honey in a way that strengthens our community, supports beekeepers, and makes a positive, lasting impact on the industry for years to come.

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?
The road has definitely not always been smooth. In fact, building Mizell Honey has required a tremendous amount of hard work, sacrifice, and perseverance. But those challenges have also shaped who we are as a business and as a family.

One of the unique aspects of our industry is how time-sensitive everything can be. Beekeeping and agriculture operate on very specific schedules, and when our customers need equipment or pollination services, meeting those deadlines is critical. It’s not enough to provide high-quality equipment and dependable services; we have to deliver when our customers need us. That responsibility has led to plenty of all-nighters, long days, and sacrifices along the way. Five years in, we’re still working seven days a week, often for 10 or more hours a day.

Our beekeeping operations have also faced some significant challenges. Hurricane Helene caused tremendous damage to our community and our apiary, and an unexpected freeze in January 2025 presented another major obstacle. Events like these remind you just how much of agriculture is outside your control. You can work hard, plan carefully, and still find yourself having to rebuild and adapt.

On top of running Mizell Honey, I also work as a firefighter for the City of Douglas. Samantha and I welcomed two children along the way, so maintaining a career that provided stability and benefits for our family was important to me. Being a firefighter has allowed me to serve my community while maintaining a schedule that works well with operating a business. I work 24-hour shifts followed by 48 hours off. However, those days off are rarely days off in the traditional sense. I spend that time working with the bees, helping at the shop, assisting customers, and preparing orders. Even while I’m at the fire department, when I’m not responding to emergency calls, I use my time to handle bookkeeping, customer service, and other administrative responsibilities.

Thankfully, we’ve built a family team that makes all of this possible. My dad transitioned into working at Mizell Honey full-time about three years ago, and he has become a constant presence at the shop. He oversees machine operations, helps maintain safety, manages order flow, handles equipment maintenance, and plays a major role in our continued expansion. About two and a half years ago, we also hired my brother-in-law, Ethan Batten, as our shop manager. His contributions have been instrumental in helping us manage our employees, maintain efficiency, and keep our operations moving forward.

This business is our baby. It’s truly a family-owned small business, and like any family working closely together, we’ve had our share of arguments, difficult conversations, long nights, exhausting days, and even a few injuries along the way. But through all of it, we’ve grown closer and learned how to work together in ways we never could have anticipated.

What makes the hard work worthwhile is the trust we’ve earned from our commercial beekeeping and agricultural communities. These are industries that we care deeply about, and being trusted to support the people who keep them moving is an incredible privilege. We’re grateful for every customer who has taken a chance on us, every employee who has helped us grow, and every family member who has sacrificed alongside us. The journey hasn’t been easy, but we wouldn’t trade the opportunity to build something meaningful together.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Mizell Honey is a family-owned and operated business built around our passion for beekeeping, agriculture, and creating opportunities within our community. We specialize in custom beekeeping equipment, pollination services, bee sales, and a growing selection of all-natural goods, including honey, beeswax candles, soaps, and lip balms.

At its core, Mizell Honey is about much more than selling products. We want to support beekeepers, educate our community, and help people better understand the vital role agriculture plays in our local and national economy. We’re passionate about sharing knowledge, raising awareness, and making beekeeping and natural products more accessible to everyone.

One of the things we’re most proud of from a branding perspective is the relatability we’ve been able to establish with our audience. In just a few short years, we’ve reached a large community of people who connect with our story, our educational content, and our approach to business. We never wanted to be a brand that was focused solely on making a sale. We want people to feel like they’re learning something, being welcomed into our community, and connecting with a family that genuinely cares about what we do.

Affordability and accessibility are also central to our mission. Beekeeping can be an expensive hobby or profession, and we believe that cost shouldn’t be an unnecessary barrier for people who want to get involved. We work hard to offer affordable equipment and products because we want more people to have the opportunity to experience beekeeping and enjoy the benefits of all-natural goods.

We also believe our story is something worth sharing. Mizell Honey began with a passion, a willingness to take a chance, and a dream that my family and I worked together to build. We hope our journey reminds people that sometimes you have to take a leap of faith and pursue something you truly believe in. You don’t always need to have everything figured out before you begin.

As we look toward the future, we’re excited about expanding our brand and strengthening our connection with the community. Our commercial shop is continuing to grow, and we’re exploring the possibility of opening a storefront that would take our mission a step further.

My wife, Samantha, and I have talked about this vision for years. We want to create a space in downtown Willacoochee where people can find our honey, soaps, beeswax products, candles, and lip balms, alongside locally grown produce, farm-fresh eggs, locally sourced meats, baked goods, and handmade items such as ceramics.

The idea is to create a place where people can access healthy, natural, and locally produced goods while supporting the farmers and artisans in our region. We especially want to focus on accessibility for our rural community, where economic hardship can make these types of products difficult to afford.

One of our long-term goals is to establish a storefront that accepts EBT as a form of payment, helping make nutritious, locally sourced food more accessible to families who need it. We also envision using the space to host community events, such as candle-making classes and other hands-on experiences that bring people together.

This project is still in its early stages, but we’ve recently identified a couple of properties that could work well for our needs. We’re excited about the possibilities and what this could mean for our community.

Ultimately, we want Mizell Honey to continue growing into something that makes a meaningful difference. Whether we’re building beekeeping equipment, supporting local farmers, educating our audience, or creating new ways for people to access natural products, we want our business to reflect the values that brought us here in the first place: family, hard work, community, and a genuine desire to help others.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
One of the best ways to support Mizell Honey is simply to shop with us! Whether you’re purchasing our beekeeping equipment, honey, beeswax products, or other all-natural goods, every order makes a meaningful difference to our family and our business.

But supporting us goes beyond shopping with Mizell Honey. We genuinely encourage people to shop small, shop local, and support their local beekeepers and farmers whenever possible. Choosing locally produced goods is a wonderful way to invest in your community and support the people who work hard to provide them.

We also believe it’s important for consumers to understand where their food comes from and what they’re purchasing. Honey is a great example. Labels and grading terminology can sometimes be confusing, and terms such as “U.S. Grade A” don’t necessarily mean that the honey was produced in the United States. We encourage shoppers to learn more about the products they purchase, ask questions, and get to know their local beekeepers.

Commercial beekeepers play an incredibly important role in agriculture. Through pollination services, beekeepers help support the production of many of the foods we enjoy every day. The relationship between beekeepers and farmers is essential to our nation’s food supply, and it’s something we’re proud to be a part of.

Ultimately, the support we receive from our communities is what makes the greatest difference. Every purchase, recommendation, social media share, and conversation helps small businesses like ours continue to grow. When you choose to support local businesses, you’re helping families, creating jobs, and strengthening the communities we all call home.

We’d love for people to connect with us, explore our offerings, ask questions, and follow along as Mizell Honey continues to grow. Whether you’re a commercial beekeeper, a hobbyist, or simply someone who loves good honey and all-natural products, there’s a place for you in our community.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mizellhoney.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mizellhoney
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mizellhoney