Dec. 19, 2023 - From February to September, (91ÊÓÆ”) alumnus Lyndsay Peterson and her partner and former classmate Bryan Castro run their bee business, âBryanâs Bees.â Business is brisk until October when the bees go into hibernation.
âWe would have to lay everybody off in October,â Castro said. âWe were like, what can we do between October and the beginning of February when bee season begins?â
And thatâs how âBee Merryâ came to be. During the off season, Peterson, Castro, and a team of about ten workers travel around the region decorating homes for Halloween, Christmas, Hanukkah, Diwali (the Hindu festival of lights that falls between October and November) and other events and celebrations. At this point, Bee Merry is doing even better than Bryanâs Bees.
âWeâve done 200 houses this season,â Castro said. âCelebrity estates, commercial buildings, businesses. Most of our clients are in the luxury market. This week we are doing the home of a rock star and the Four Seasons in Westlake Village.â
Castro grew up in Thousand Oaks and Peterson in Ventura. Both enrolled in 91ÊÓÆ” in 2008. Peterson was a Business major and Castro was undeclared at first, then majored in Biology.
The couple happened into the bee business because 91ÊÓÆ” Professor Ruben Alarcon saw potential in Castro, who couldnât seem to master Alarconâs statistics class.
âI was doing so horribly, I was in his office every day,â Castro said. âHe finally asked me âHow would you like an internship doing beekeeping?ââ
âI said, âAbsolutely not, that sounds horrible, I hope that never happens,ââ Castro said. âAnd he said âPerfect! Show up at 8 a.m. tomorrow and we went out to the Central Valley. It was 110 degrees in the shade and weâre in these bee suits. We opened up the first hive and they were Africanized bees and we got stung everywhereâŠ.and I loved it.â
Meanwhile, Peterson had switched her Business major to Performing Arts with plans to become a dancer. They met as freshmen when they were in a precalculus class together and Castro walked into the class and declared âWho needs friends? Who needs a study buddy?â
Peterson raised her hand and Castro said âPerfect! Weâre friends.â
Castro landed internships with bee companies, going out and chasing bees, and ultimately developed his own business, âBryanâs Bees.â Peterson graduated in 2012 with a degree in Performing Arts/Dance and went on to give dance lessons, coach boys and girls soccer and work as a nanny. She and Castro were together all through college and today have a precocious four-year-old son.
âI eventually got on board with Bryanâs company - begrudgingly because I wanted to dance - and started working with him in 2019,â Peterson said. âMy job is to take calls, like a celebrity may call and say âWe wanted crazy colors and not warm white,â or I go out to schools and give presentations on bees. Today, NASA reached out because they have bees in one of their bigger structures and need them removed.â
Castro does all the design work and sales and the couple employ about 10 people during Bee Merry season. Bryanâs Bees is also thriving.
âWe keep growing and expanding,â Castro said. âWe get bigger every year. This is our best year yet for bees and I donât know where weâre going, but I do know weâre going bigger.â