Brooksville Beekeeper Grows Backyard Hobby Into Honey Badgers Bee Farm Business

Derrick Jerome started with a few backyard beehives. He ended up with a commercial apiary, a product line stretching from classic honey varieties to infused blends, and guided tours that put visitors inside a working hive.

Jerome's operation, Honey Badgers Bee Farm at 20380 Camelot Drive in Brooksville, grew out of a hobby interest in beekeeping that eventually scaled into a full production business. The farm now harvests raw, unprocessed honey, preserving the natural enzymes, nutrients and flavors straight from the hive. Because the honey is never heated during processing, it retains the antioxidants and enzymes that give raw honey its distinctive taste and nutritional character.

The product lineup runs from classic varieties to infused options, positioned around honey's versatility in everyday cooking, drinks and wellness applications. Running the operation means carefully managing hives, monitoring colonies and harvesting honey while keeping the bee populations healthy, the farm describes as central to its process.

The educational component sets Honey Badgers apart from a straight retail operation. Jerome has said that part of the farm's mission is helping people understand the vital role bees play as pollinators in the ecosystem. The farm backs that up with guided apiary tours, where guests suit up in protective gear and step inside a working hive to see firsthand how bees produce honey and how a beekeeper manages a colony.

Honey Badgers Bee Farm is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and weekends from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The farm continues expanding its honey product line while keeping the doors open to visitors looking to experience beekeeping up close.