← The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast
The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast
1KHO 696: Honey and the Unexpected Yes | Drew and Ava Miller, Petal Honey Co
00:52:23
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- [00:01]
Ginny Urch
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- [01:19]
Welcome to the 1000 Hours Outside podcast. My name is Ginny Urch. I'm the founder of 1000 Hours Outside, and I have a really special pair of guests today. We met in person at the Florida Parent Educator Association Conference, FPEA down in Florida. And Ava came up and gave me honey from their farm, which was so generous and so kind. And then we got to talking about how you have this bee farm, and I thought, well, we've actually never talked.
- [01:48]
About that on this show at all.
- [01:50]
And anything that can entice you outside, anything that can kind of kick you outside because you got to go take care of what you have on your property is a really good thing in.
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This day and age.
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So Ava is here with her dad, Drew. Ava and Drew Miller.
- [02:03]
Welcome to the both of you.
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Ava Miller
Hi. Thank you so much for having us. So good to see you again.
- [02:09]
Drew Miller
Yeah, it's great to be here. Thanks for having us.
- [02:12]
Ava Miller
Yeah.
- [02:12]
Ginny Urch
You have a great story and kind of a random story. So you wrote about how this whole Journey. You responded to a Honey for Sale sign at the end of some driveway down in Florida, and you're like, passing this house and passing this sign. And it's an interesting story to me because sometimes random things can really change.
- [02:33]
The trajectory of your life.
- [02:35]
So can you give a little bit of a background? So the company that you have is called Petal Honey. So the website is Petal Honey Co.
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And I'll make sure.
- [02:42]
I'll put that in the show notes. You're at a spot where you are selling this honey. You're getting into local, different restaurants and things. It has grown to be such an incredible thing, but it kind of started with this random situation. So can you tell us the story?
- [02:57]
Drew Miller
Yeah, absolutely. You want me to do this part? Okay. I don't. I don't want to yap the whole time and not let Ava talk. So I'll. I'll catch us up to speed. So. So. And then you can jump in at any point. But. Yeah, so I. I don't want to go down rabbit trails either, because I tend to do that. But I've been in worship ministry most of my life and. And have been blessed that. That God has allowed me to do that. But during the COVID season that we all love so much, we. We felt the Lord kind of leading us out of where we were at, and it didn't make sense, but we. There were no mixed signals. And so God was very clear. My wife and I knew. We all knew that it was time to transition into something else. And so I stepped down from my job at the church, which we loved being there, it was just kind of a surprise to us. And then we're just like, okay, Lord, you said to do this, so what now? And a couple friends reached out and asked if. If I could help with leading at their church. And so was happy to do that and just helped a couple different churches. But a few weeks, it was very confusing season, really. But within a. But the Lord speaks to us through just, like, peace, you know, he gives us peace. And when. And when you're walking with the Lord, he just kind of es and flows. He kind of channels you into where you need to go. And it's kind of like if you're not going the right way, it's like swimming up river. And so we've just learned and are still learning, you know, to recognize those things and his promptings and leading and stuff. But I didn't feel like I was supposed to take a position at another church. It felt so much excitement and permission to help some other churches. But the last about five years have been very different and very confusing. Fun, but I'd say the most challenging season of our life, for sure. And then, yeah, a couple weeks after resigning from my job, I was giving an estimate on a decking job. I learned to do construction at an early age, and so just was trying to fill in the gaps of how to keep the lights on. And I thought, you know, I have a tiny bit of time. There's this little property in the little town I grew up in. I knew they sold honey, but there's no, like, brand of honey or anything like that. And I just had never stopped. So I had a. I had a small window, which is. Which is rare when you have four kids. But I had this little window of time to just stop and check it out. And when I walked up to the. The guy's front porch, I saw that it was the brand of honey I had eaten since I was a little kid. And, I mean, growing up in Florida, honey. Honey was just. It was always in the pantry. It didn't get, like, special attention, but it was also heralded as. As special. You know, I had never had any exposure to beekeeping or. Yeah, it's just. It was just wild because, you know, my parents, my grandparents, they all just had this, like, I don't know, loyalty to this brand of honey. And again, didn't think much of it, but I was like, how is. I was a little starstruck. I was like, how is this right here? Which it should be. You know, honey being local, it should be the one closest, you know, to our house. But I don't know. I just. It all came together very quickly, and I was a little starstruck, and I'm like, how did I not know this? I would have stopped all these years prior. Oh, not to mention it's the honey that I would buy, you know, at our grocery store, like, our little, like, market. You know, we say little. Little market in Orlando. That doesn't make sense, but there are still some out there. And it's the honey that I bought as I got older and stuff like that. And so I got to know the. The older gentleman and his wife just by, you know, talking, you know, within 30 minutes, just, like, asking about them and their story and stuff like that. And so I was leaving, and I just said, hey, you know, thank you. The. The. The guy's name is Ed. I said, it's great meeting you, Ed. And I was about to leave, and he goes, who's your family in in that little town. And, and I told him and he said, he froze. He said, you gave me chills. He said, I asked your grandma to marry me when we were 17 years old. And, and I'm like, you know, just as surprised. And, and so, so I called, I called my. I know what. So I, I know. So I called my grandma right after when I got in the truck and I was like, grandma, do you know, do you know Ed? And she's like, of course. Of course I know Edward. And she filled me in a little bit. Obviously they didn't get married, but I wouldn't be here, but it was just, it was wild. So he had asked before I left what I did for, for work. And, and I told him, you know, we're just in transition. I wasn't sure. And he had asked if I'd be interested in helping him run, run his honey business. So very, you know, God style surprise. Like what? Like this is interesting. Never, never thought of this, you know, and, and so, so I, I told my wife and they ended up helping him for a couple days. And you know, I tend to be just very adaptable. That's just my personality. And, and so work with him for a couple days, Enjoy the change of pace. It's a lot more hands on. I was learning something new him and I hit it off just very, very quickly, but he was just old school naturally. And he's like, I can pay 10 bucks an hour to help me run the business. And I was like, I just resigned from like $40 an hour. I was like, there's no way I can pull that off. So he tried hiring other people. And, and he just kept calling me back to help him. And, and yeah, we, it's a longer story to get through some of the beautiful moments and God stories in there, but we just ultimately felt like we're supposed to be there. Not because there was any potential for anything at all. It was just his wife wasn't doing well. He, he need, needed to be freed up to spend, you know, time with her. And so I ended up running his business for over a year as, and then his wife ended up passing in that time and you know, they, they, you know, weren't believers. And so I got to, you know, again, there's some really cool stories in there, just about getting to tell them about the Lord and, and so she ended up passing. He actually asked me to, to do the funeral, which I've never done, you know, a funeral. I've, I've, I've led worship at a Funeral. But I've never, you know, spoke or, you know, you know, I don't know what the right word, you know, pastor at a funeral before, but it was an honor to celebrate his. His wife and that he would ask me to do that. And so really just a unexpected, you know, beautiful season. And so that's. That's how we got started into honey. And that's. That's pre. Petal. Yeah. So the petal story is. Is. Is its own story. And, I mean, I can let Ava tell more about that, but, yeah, that's how we got. That's how we got into the world of honey goodness.
- [10:00]
Ginny Urch
What a remarkable story. It's interesting, and I. I think a lot about that verse that says, we plan our course, but the Lord determines our step. And that's what happened. He determined your steps. That was not your plan. There's, you know, and I, you know, I don't know the story. So I just meet you, you know, several years in, and you've got this gorgeous honey, the gorgeous logo, and a gorgeous website. Now you're adding on chickens.
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So.
- [10:23]
What an incredible reminder that God has good plans and that sometimes life shifts into different ways that we don't expect. And that's exciting. And I think sometimes it will be nice to be able to see down the road, like five years, 10 years. But also it's kind of fun when there's some surprises. Ava, do you remember when that shift happened? So I think part of the interesting story, too, is this. This man, he's in his 80s, and this is actually something that's happening I don't know how often, but people are retiring out of their farming or they're wanting to pass it on. So these different opportunities arise. Do you remember the transition to the bees?
- [11:03]
Ava Miller
Yeah. Yeah.
- [11:04]
Ginny Urch
I wasn't.
- [11:05]
Ava Miller
I wasn't a part of. I didn't really know Ed as well as my dad did, but. Really, how. Do you want me to talk about how Petal started? I was.
- [11:15]
Drew Miller
Well, I'll. Yeah, let me back up. So.
- [11:17]
Ava Miller
So.
- [11:18]
Drew Miller
So with. With honey. And these are all things I. I learned and didn't know until, you know, I got. I got into helping him, helping Ed. But you. You have, like, your farmers, and then you have your packers, and those are kind of the main category. And then you can. You can create hybrids, you know, when you get into distribution and different stuff like that. And so again, we're just. We're just a little family in Orlando doing the best we can to. To make it all work. And. And ultimately, like, you Said, as God takes you into different areas, like, we're. We're just stewards, you know, like, we're stewards of the time we have, the bodies we have, you know, the things he calls us to. And so, you know, we're just like. It's almost like, give a mouse a cookie. It's like, you know, if. If you've told us to do this, then, you know, then this. To the best of our knowledge, we'll. We'll do this or go this direction. And so it's just kind of been that. That back and forth, like, okay, God, how do we steward this? Well, and so when I was helping Ed, I learned, like, the. The packing business side of honey. So, like, distributing, bottling, working with farms, you know, different families all. All around the state of Florida, you know, and I. I learned the business side of honey. And so what I was excited to learn about was the beekeeping side. So I started taking classes on my own and just would do the different levels of beekeeping, and we started to get our own bees. And it was along the way that the name Petal came about. And so we didn't end up taking over Ed's business after his wife passed. He's been trying to pass that on to his family. And so he's been, you know, trying for years to. To inspire somebody to take it over. And I hope for him that one of them forms a passion for it, because it is. It is beautiful, but it's very, very, very difficult. And if you don't love it like other things, it's. It's probably not gonna last. So I am hopeful for him, and I want that for him. I still see him every other week. I'm over there, you know, checking on him or. Yeah, he's a great guy. Great guy and great friend. But, yeah, Ava can tell you how the name Petal came about and at what stage that happened. And. But ultimately, we transitioned into feeling the Lord leading us into starting Petal, and we became beekeepers in that process. So I'll let you talk about it.
- [13:41]
Ava Miller
Yeah, yeah. So I was. So we were going to a homeschool co op, and they were hosting an entrepreneur fair. And so I think I was in maybe 8th, 9th grade at the time, and I wanted to set up a little booth at that. At the little fair they were having. So I was like, oh, what? What can I do? What can I make or sell? And I thought, oh, why don't I. Why don't I sell honey at the Entrepreneur Affair? So my dad was working with Mr. Ed at that time. So I, I asked him if I could get some honey from him. And so my, my dad said he most likely could. And so we started brainstorming a name for the little booth that I was gonna have. And then that's when the name Pill came. Came about. So. Yeah.
- [14:35]
Drew Miller
Yeah. So she, yeah. So we were just trying to think that night, like, what's a cute name for a 14 year old? You know, and honey. And so we just thought, well, it starts with a bee and a flower. I wonder if there's something that you know, brings out the, the beauty of honey. And that's really been like the, like our, you know, our, our main. I don't say it's not our mission statement, but it's in our mission statement. But it's something we, that has inspired really every aspect of, of the business is, is the beauty of honey. And, and you know, going, going from working a, you know, a job overseeing 120 like volunteers and a big ministry and stuff like that to just being on a tractor and bottling honey by myself. And you know, it's like life got to somewhat for that season slow down. And God started to teach me a lot about just who he is. His character, his word took different shape and came alive as I got to just view I was on the farm just you know, in nature every day. And so we just really knew that like for, for honey, we wanted to reference the beauty of it and the beauty of the process. And so that has fundamentally shaped petal. And so um, and so we just try to think, yeah, what. What brings. You know, I, and anyway, I don't want to rabbit trail, but yeah. So we're trying to think what, what. How do we capture kind of the beauty of honey? And that's what, how, you know, the flower petal idea came. We never expected it to be a business at that point. It was just an entrepreneur fair. I, I tend to be a dreamer and I own way too many domains. So when I think of a name, I buy it because I'm like, there's only one of them out there. Might as well for 12 bucks, might as well hang on to it and see what happens, you know. And we didn't know that a year later I would transition out of helping Ed and we would feel the Lord lead us into starting our own honey business. Which is, you know, crazy because after I, after I, after Ed didn't need my help anymore, we're just kind of like, okay, how do we work with what we have. And because I do believe that God gives you all the things you need in every season. It may not feel that way. And, and I, but I do know that to be fundamentally true. So we're like, what do we have to work with? And so the options were, you know, go, go back into construction because I had my flooring business, or go back into ministry full time. Not that I stopped leading worship. And, and actually it was during that season at the church, one of the churches we were helping, a complete stranger walked up to us the first or second week we were there helping. And he goes, you know, I'm new to church and know, I don't know what it, what it means to, to have God speak to you, but I feel like I'm supposed to help you. And he handed me his business card and he was a, like a CEO of an engineering firm, and he gave me his number. And it's like, he's like, I don't know what this means. He's like, but I just, to the best of my feelings, I, I, I feel like I'm supposed to help you. And so I took that and took it right to, to God too, and said, God, I don't know what this is, but you know, you do. And so I knew that we, we had a desire to record the songs we had written in that season, because that's how we write is, it represents like, what God is doing and, and, but they're all songs of worship at the same time. Like, we, we, we always turn it back to this, you know, vertical theme, you know, so every song, you know, I could tell you every line of every song, where it came from and what God was doing. But so we knew that we wanted to capture that for no other reason, just to have this digital scrapbook, you know, which is a testimony of who, who God is and what he did in that season. But we didn't have anybody to record with. The guys who we had worked with up until that point had moved out of state. But I knew that we wanted to work with somebody who was a believer. And so I just said, God, I don't know what, you know, this guy John's, I don't know what you're doing through this, but we would love to record if it's possible, but I can't take that step until you lead us to the right person producer to help us with the process. And so we just started praying into that, and then God brought us to a producer and we had instant peace. It was amazing. And so I took that back to the guy, John. And I said, john, I don't know what you meant by this or in what capacity you were looking to help or felt comfortable helping, but this is kind of something we would love help with. And so he ended up, you know, being completely on board. And I mean, he, him and his wife, sweetest people. They paid, actually. They've been, they've been a part of our story far beyond just the, the music side of things. But yeah, they, they covered the, the cost for that whole project and it was really, Yeah, I mean, incredible, but encouraging to us that the Lord was saying, you know, I took you, you know, out of this season of being at this church for almost a decade and, but, you know, just honored us in a way where we're able to tell those stories and record that. And so, yeah, so that's a little rabbit trail for sure. But, you know, it has been an interesting five years. But, you know, God has been in every detail.
- [19:42]
Ginny Urch
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- [23:30]
Drew Miller
And so we've just learned to, to wait. And this is the longest season of waiting. You know, we, we have direction, you know, for sure, but, but it still feels like very much a dependent season. But yeah, so that's when the name Petal came. We never thought, we never thought at that point we would start pedal, but didn't feel like God was leading us into a position like taking a position at a church again. Didn't feel like I was supposed to ramp up the flooring business again. So we just. There are a couple conversations I had and I was like, if these go a certain way, like God, I'm taking this as, as confirmation that we're supposed to keep going. And that's, and that's really just how another way, the main way really, we, we navigate. God moving us is like are there open doors or there closed doors? And we don't push back against the closed doors. We, we just look at that as clarity. Like okay, we stop and, and sometimes it's not like a stop forever. Sometimes it's a stop for now and revisit in a couple months. You know, something like that. And, but we had a couple open doors pretty quickly. So we're like, all right, this is the craziest of ideas. I guess we'll go this way. And so we, we just, we took pedal and the name Pedal and we're like, okay, what are the next steps? We were going to, we were going to buy our house at that time which we've rented for my in laws for. Well now It'll be almost 18 years. But back then, however many years ago that was. So we took our down payment, put it in honey equipment and bees and you know, bottling stuff. And we're like, I guess we're doing this and, and yeah, we just feel, feel very, you know, honored by the Lord. But also it has been the hardest financial struggle of our life. And we're just like, how much longer can we hang on? How can, you know? But, but we're trying and, and you know, the, there's so much beauty to it. But you know, the, the industry is changing I don't want to get down that, that rabbit trail, but there's a lot of ways that are aging out and it's not that we're, we are able to transition into helping take over anybody's business, but I think in the next decade there's going to be a real gap and you know, people are going to still want honey and there's just not going to be as much out there. I mean, land development's the greatest threat to bees. And then with a lot of these generational families aging out of it, there's going to be a real need for people to do it. And so I say if, if you have any desire whatsoever to be a beekeeper, do it. The, the states all have different laws and legislation. Florida has a very, they have a lot of freedom in beekeeping and we're very grateful for that. So the, you know, the point of entry, the bar for entry is very low, which is amazing. You know, it's not like certified to try it. You know, I would say if you have a desire, do it. Get involved with like your local. Almost every county has a beekeeping association. If, if yours doesn't, I would look in like a neighboring county to see if they have one here in Orlando. Almost every county that I've heard of has their own beekeeping associations. That's a really good place to start. And, and I would also encourage you to kind of find your, your beekeeping supply houses because at least again, I can only speak for, you know, Florida, but our supply houses are a tight knit community. And so they have pointed us in the direction of meeting other apiaries and apiary owners and stuff like that. So I would encourage you to do that. I will say it is harder than, than you might think that, that for us has been surprising, but not, I mean, it's, you know, you're working with, with God's creation, with wild creatures that, you know, were meant to sustain themselves. And so, you know, if we get involved, you know, you gotta kind of let them do what they need to do, but also support them. So that's been a big part of, you know, petal is learning to, to grow as beekeepers and how to beekeep with bees naturally and not just kind of bring them into an industrialized, you know, head space where it's like we, we bring them into our schedule and our way of doing things. And I think some of the struggles in the beekeeping world have come from us trying to put bees into our boxes. That's, that's poetic. That's poetic, but. But yeah, I would encourage anybody to, to really give it a shot. But I will say it, it is, it is harder than you might think. And it takes more time and attention than you might think.
- [28:15]
Ginny Urch
Well, that is sort of what I thought. I would say that of all the things that you can get into if you're interested in doing a business or a homestead or anything like that, it always seemed that bees was one of the most tricky and it's just kind of fickle. And sometimes they leave. You know, the few people that I know, you know, they're trying to catch swarms and they've got all this, you know, suits that they wear. And so. And they're, they got the smoke. So it definitely is not sort of a second nature thing. So before we go on, though, I just want to make sure I don't forget it. Ava, can you tell us about. I found the music on Apple Music. What. And you've recorded with your dad? Yeah. You've been singing since you together since you were about six.
- [28:58]
Ava Miller
Yes. So it all started on Christmas Eve when I was six years old. The pastor and his wife at the church we were attending that my dad was the worship leader at, they had asked me to sing Silent Night on Christmas Eve at that service. And I think it was a family service, but I started. So that's when I started singing with my dad. And what's, what's crazy is that when I was on stage, I got up off this stool and I also started dancing, which now I'm. I also dance. And so that's like, it's like a, it's a crazy story. You know, how the Lord works. But anyway, that's when I started singing with my dad. And we've been leading with the leading together ever since, so just such a blessing. I'm very grateful to be able to lead with him.
- [29:54]
Ginny Urch
So tell people where they can find your music. And I saw four songs. Is that correct?
- [30:01]
Ava Miller
How many do we. We have an ep. Yes. And then is that four song.
- [30:05]
Drew Miller
I think it, we have. I think it's four and four. So the, the album is. Is called Arboretum, but then the name that we recorded under is Miller and Company, Like Miller and Company. So it's like we have Petal Petal Honey Company and Miller and Company and again, didn't plan that. But yeah, if, if you look up Miller and then the Ampersand and just CEO Miller and Company there I think it's eight songs because we, we recorded the, the top four and the bottom four. I Think it's four and four. I should know this, but it's been. It's been a couple, you know, or a year. I don't know how long it's been. But each section of the album opens up with, like, an instrumental that has a number. I think it's. What is it? What are the numbers?
- [30:47]
Ava Miller
I think the first was 1432.
- [30:54]
Drew Miller
Okay. Well, the names of those instrumentals represent our ages at the time of recording. And so we wanted to, you know, just be as intentional as possible in the recording process. Like everything, you know, just. Just very intentional. Every word. The. The album we had painted by a friend, you know, which tells the story of it, really captures that whole season of that. That batch of songs being written and where it came from and what God was doing. So, yeah, the. Everything about the album, we tried to have a story to it. It wasn't just, let's record, you know, hopefully prettier, pretty songs and. And do it to the best of our ability, but go beyond that and. And be extra intentional. So, yeah, so, yeah, if you see it should be about eight. Eight songs. I think Ava's. Ava's looking.
- [31:44]
Ava Miller
So there are eight songs, and the instrumentals are 1537 and 1436. I was a little off on that second age, but anyway.
- [31:54]
Ginny Urch
What an interesting idea. What an interesting idea to. To use your ages as the title.
- [32:01]
Ava Miller
Well, just captured a moment in time that was really special. So we wanted to. To. Yeah.
- [32:10]
Ginny Urch
So you have this. You have this story of a lot of skill sets.
- [32:16]
It's a.
- [32:16]
It's a really interesting piece, and you keep adding on different skill sets. So, Ava, can you talk about. We, you know, we've done. We've been involved in church worship. Not on staff, but my husband plays the drums and I play the keyboard, and so we've done that. Yeah, it's fun. We currently are not doing it because there's been some drama, but we do that for a very long time. And our. Our daughters do music together. We've got. We got three, but the older two do music together, and.
- [32:46]
It'S really special.
- [32:47]
And that is a really specific time type of life. And to transition out of that now, to be doing this outside work has got to feel somewhat different.
- [33:00]
Pretty different.
- [33:01]
And you're building on it. So you start with the bees. But now your dad said, Ava, that you guys have added on chickens as well.
- [33:10]
Ava Miller
Yes. So ever since I was little, we've had chickens. Really? Ever. Ever since I could remember, we've had them. And so they've always Been a very special part of life. Just love now. We've been incubating the eggs and hatching baby chicks, and we started selling, selling our eggs from our hens as well. And so within the last year, we kind of started a little local chicken business. And so anyway, we've. We love our little babies. It's been a lot of fun. Yeah. And it's something as all siblings can do together. So it's a special shared experience, for sure.
- [33:55]
Ginny Urch
It's amazing. Entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is really tricky, especially if you're going from a spot where you're doing worship and that's kind of known. You know what's going to come. You know, you're going to switch your songs out a little bit. You're going to have the big Easter services and the Christmas services.
- [34:11]
Ava Miller
Yes.
- [34:11]
Ginny Urch
So that's kind of known, but the entrepreneurship is very unknown. Do you have any advice for someone who is interested in trying to become an entrepreneur?
- [34:23]
Ava Miller
Trying to think, say, just. Just go for it. Say that. That'd be my advice. Just go for it. And don't be afraid to try something new or start something. Just go for it. And there's people that, that love you, that, you know, are willing to. To come alongside of you and help. And I'm so grateful for my family and how they've always encouraged entrepreneurship and, and me growing in. In that way. And so I would say just go for it and don't be afraid to ask for help. And that'd be my biggest advice.
- [35:03]
Ginny Urch
And interesting, even with the chickens, that there's several avenues that you can take with it. Like, you talk about incubating and you're selling the eggs and.
- [35:11]
Ava Miller
Yes, that's my favorite part, incubating. I love it so much just to see the babies grow from, well, from putting the eggs in the incubator to hens. It's just an amazing experience to watch them so fast.
- [35:28]
Ginny Urch
So fast.
- [35:29]
Ava Miller
Oh, it's true.
- [35:30]
Ginny Urch
A couple weeks. It's really. Yeah, it's like. It's like watching a miracle. It is, yes.
- [35:34]
Ava Miller
Oh, it really is a miracle.
- [35:36]
Ginny Urch
Yeah.
- [35:37]
Ava Miller
Yes.
- [35:38]
Ginny Urch
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- [36:47]
Talk to us about with the beekeeping. One of the things that you talk about is protecting the bees and preserving God's creation, really, this goal of preservation. And that's a role that a lot of us could take in different ways, you know, on our own properties or on our own balconies or whatever the situation is. Can you talk about why that's important?
- [37:09]
Drew Miller
Yeah, I'll take, I'll take this one. Ava's like, no way I can take this one.
- [37:14]
Ava Miller
You know, we're good conversation.
- [37:15]
Drew Miller
It is. You know, and, and the more we're constantly learning. I mean, I, I work with a handful of beekeepers and people that have been in it for, if not most of their life, all their life. And, and I, I'm still learning from, from them. And I feel in some ways like a newbie compared to somebody who's, you know, pushing 90 and has been a beekeeper their whole life. But, but I also have a unique perspective just because I, I am a dreamer. I'm someone who dissects culture and, you know, looks to the future. And, and so I'm, I'm also asking the fundamental questions to the Lord, like, okay, again, give a mouse a cookie thing if you have us here, you know, what is our role in this space? And, and so we're very much, you know, we try to be the best parents we can, but, you know, like, we talk about as parents, we, we don't want to address, you know, the, the symptoms, you know, or the actions. We want to get to the, the heart, the root cause of things. And so those are the questions we're asking in the beekeeping world is like, okay, what are, what are some of the root causes of losses? Or, you know, I say losses, like bee losses or root causes of adulterated honey or families, you know, people leaving the industry or, you know, honey not driving a high enough price. Like, what, what are, you know, these. So we try to find the root cause of it all because then if we can figure that out, we can go. Go at that. But when it, when it comes to, to preservation, I started asking the Lord questions. These are just thought prayers as I go about my day too. Like, if, if I'm in a. Some sort of interaction or conversation, I'm like, and I don't have an answer. Or, you know, I just tend to be an overthinker. I. I just say, okay, God, what do I. What do we do with this? Or. And so I remember one day I was. I was at one of the supply houses talking to the manager there and just talk about the culture between beekeepers. And I was like, you know, early on in the, in, in this, you know, I don't even know if we'd start a pedal. It might have been towards the beginning of pedal, but I just. He was saying that people don't really talk to each other on the commercial side. It's kind of cutthroat. You know, people are, you know, it's just. I was like, this is not what I expected. I'm like, God, how do we. How do we repair this? And as soon as I asked, you know, God that question, he gave me a name. It like popped in my head just out of nowhere. And it was the name is the Apiary alliance. And. And I was like, that's got an interesting ring to it. It. I like the alliteration, right? That's what it is. Yeah. So I like the alliteration, but I'm like, I don't know if it's as sweet and beautiful as petal, but, you know, what is that? And so I started asking God, what is it? Oh, well, I got in the truck and I was like, is the domain taken? It wasn't taken. So I bought the domain.
- [40:00]
Ginny Urch
Another domain.
- [40:02]
Drew Miller
Another domain. So I was like, what, what, what is this? And so I've been asking those questions for, for years now and then just building what I think it is supposed to be out. But essentially what it does is, leans into preservation, regeneration and, and coming at it from a unique angle. And beekeepers. But it also works with companies and kind of the corporate world to. So we can all work Together, put our heads together, our resources, our time together to really champion these pollinators. And so that's a, that is something I, I want to give a lot of my time to, a lot of my time to building that out, especially since it was, you know, it's a divine inspiration. But also it has been, it has been confirmed over the years that it is very much needed. But we're just pulled in so many directions right now. It's just, that's why I'm like, lord, I want to, I want to steward all that you're telling us to do. Well, but I think my heart might explode because I have too many jobs and too many responsibilities. And you know, at the end of the day, like, we just want to simplify. If I could focus my attention on 100% beekeeping and the honey business and the apiary alliance, that's our desire to do, to do ministry and life through agriculture. But, but yeah, a third of our food supply does come from pollinators. Not just honeybees, but pollinators in general. And like I'd said before, the greatest threat to pollinators is land development. And so the apiary alliance would, would basically create land preservation. So it leveraged corporate interests to help with land preservation and also resourcing apiaries. And so that's a bigger, longer conversation podcast in and of itself. And, and, but I'll go back to the localized beekeeping conversation. You know, as hard as beekeeping is in the fact. And we've, we've had to start over three times with our bee yard. Wow. Because you just think you're doing it the right way and you kind of buck against the system and how they tell you, you do it this way and you treat the bees at this time. And we're just trying to break some of those what they would consider norms of beekeeping and just try to be. Keep the natural way kind of the hippie way. And so we meet a lot of beekeepers who do it in both ways and we're trying to copy more of the hippie way of beekeeping. But if you do lose a hive, in most cases it's the colony going into survival mode and, and they're swarming and they're leaving for their own self preservation. And so those, those hives become feral wild hives. And then those hives grow beyond that. And so it's like if there's a silver lining to, to losing bees, it would be that for sure. Because yeah, you're actually, you're contributing. And some people have said if it wasn't, if it wasn't for the loose laws, you know, being able to have a low bar of entry for beekeepers, bees would be a little bit more endangered than they are.
- [43:21]
Ginny Urch
Wow.
- [43:22]
I did not know that. So basically, even though this is a big. It feels like a big failure and you know, you're starting over. You even talked about sometimes bears are getting in. I mean, there's, there's issues there. But if the bees leave, which seems like that would be one of the saddest things and frustrating things. It's not like they died, they're just, they're now they're out in the world, right?
- [43:44]
Drew Miller
Yeah, in most cases. Yeah.
- [43:46]
Ginny Urch
Wow.
- [43:47]
Ava Miller
Yeah.
- [43:47]
Ginny Urch
That's actually a really big deal because, like you talk about, I mean, the, our food supply depends on these pollinators. And so now you're supplying different restaurants. You have wildflower, orange blossom, the honeycomb, a honey flight. So these different types of things that people can buy and then you can. Sometimes you're eating them in different restaurants and tell us about the people side of it. So it's such an interesting line of work because a lot of times you're alone or you're out there and you're dealing with nature, but then there is the whole people side of it. So. And Ava, you could answer this too. With your chickens. Does it build community?
- [44:26]
Ava Miller
Oh, yeah, for sure, yes. It's been. I'm kind of gonna go on a little rabbit trail here. But with our honey business, we do some like, pop up honey stands at the end of our street sometimes. And it's just, it's so, so wonderful to get to meet our, our neighbors and to teach them about the beauty of honey. And then we try to keep in contact with those, the people that we meet in our, in our community. And so that's been really special. And then also with, with chickens as well, we've been able to sell some of our chicks and chicken eggs. And so getting to, to reach out to our community and, and meet people, that's been a really special part.
- [45:15]
Drew Miller
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I'd say that's one of our favorite parts about what we, we're doing. And it's also what has helped with creating vision for the future is it's, it's very much people driven and community driven. And we felt very loved by the chefs and the restaurant owners and the shop owners. Like, it's Orlando's a big. It's a big, big, big place, but it's also really, really small and, and a Lot of these shop owners and chefs, like they, they know each other, they've been in it for 20 to 40 years. And so just as we've gotten into a couple restaurants, it's led to more restaurants and it led to being out at some Disney restaurants and, and it's just, it's grown because of the community and, and so we just felt very supported like last year and we need to take it off our website. It's been up there a little longer than, I don't know, I guess I would prefer, but it's still, we're rebuilding from when the bear got our bees, but you know, last, last year when the bear took out our best hives. One of the, the restaurant groups, it's a husband and wife who own four or five restaurants in Orlando, they had found out about it and so for I think it was six weeks or maybe close to two months or I don't know, they, they did some honey themed menu items and then gave the proceeds to helping us rebuild our, our yard. And so I mean they, they gave us close to a couple thousand dollars and we didn't ask, we didn't ask for any of that. And we just have felt so love. But I just, I don't, I think with the way the world is headed not to get, you know, go down that path, but I think we're going to be moving back into a very much localized reality. And so anyway, and plus, you know, just being, you know, believers and being in the church like we, we've, we, I wholeheartedly believe in, in the church and the, you know, just the gathering of people around the truth of God's word and doing life together. You know, it's like we're, we're getting to do that through honey. You know, we get to go into spaces we didn't expect to go into and, and we get to do life with some amazing people. And so whether it's Ava putting a honey pop up at the end of our street or you know, us doing a market or us, you know, going to a school and doing a teaching or bringing chefs to our apiary to show them the process, like it's all community centered. It's all about people and, and that's, that's really what we love so much. And again, it's, it's what's shaping the future, the vision of what we want to do for the future. And God's starting to open that up as well. And that's a whole nother story. Blessed us with a property we've been praying for. For almost three years. He opened that up about six or seven weeks ago. And so that's a new thing, a new development. Yeah. Wow.
- [48:08]
Ginny Urch
What a story.
- [48:09]
Ava Miller
Just so grateful. Just the. You know, just hearing. Talking about our story, I'm just like, wow. And just all the ways that God really works. I'm just so grateful for that.
- [48:20]
Drew Miller
Yeah. I mean, you're. You're friends with. With Joe Salatin. Yeah, but. But we. And I. I've met him once at one of the FPA events, but I will listen to him while I drive. And I drive a lot, making deliveries and. And I took a job up at a church in Deland, which is not too far from Orlando, but it puts me in the car about 45 minutes to an hour when I drive up there. So I was listening to him one day, and he was being interviews like a pot. I think it was a podcast. He's being interviewed by. By somebody, and they were just asking practical advice for homesteaders and. And stuff. And we hear him talk about that, and I watch him talk about that a lot, but he was saying, I'm not gonna. I can't quote him. But my takeaway was like, you know, if God's called you to something, you know, don't put limitations to. To what God can do. And he was talking about also, like, if. If God's called you to homestead or to run a business in agriculture, like, it's better to be closer to a city center with less land than further with more land. And it was in that conversation that, you know, I was like, you know what? I think in a lot of ways, I have disqualified myself from. Or given limitations to what God can do. Like, disqualified myself from, you know, a certain area of town or size of property, you know, just, you know, and. And that's. That's. Anyway that happens, you know, when you go through life and. And things don't go at your time, you know, and it's. It's easy to get a little cynical, but. But we got to remind ourselves, like, you know, God is. He. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and he. He's bigger than we know. And fundamentally, he is always good. And those are the things we have to remind ourselves as we cultivate gratitude every day. It's like, he is good and he has a plan, and so we can trust Him. But I was listening to that podcast, and I started thinking different. I was making that drive north of Orlando to Deland, and I was like, you know, I've never looked at any Other area than this one area I thought would be ideal. So I started looking in a new area. And one day I got up early after the hurricanes to go surfing. I have been surfing my whole life, and I love it. And got up super early that day. And it was too soon after the hurricane. The ocean was. I say the ocean was angry. It was just very rough. And I was by myself. And it was like just when the sun started popping out. And I was like, it's not worth it. And as I've gotten older, I've learned to draw those lines a little more clearly. But I'm like, how do I not waste the fact that I got up? So I went and drove the couple streets that I. I had looked up, and I just started, you know, praying. I was like, lord, you know, I know you can do anything, you know, if you've told us to run this honey business and do, you know, ministry through agriculture, like, we. We've got to move out of downtown Orlando and onto some. Some land because we're moving bees all around Orlando and, you know, having four jobs and. And the family, like, it's just too much. And so, right. Like, if, you know, the give a mouse a cookie thing. If you've told us to do this, then. Then this to me makes, like, sense to. For the next step. And so we started. I drove out there that day to those couple streets, and I met somebody on the. One of the streets, and I was like, hey, this is who I am. My family has a honey business. You know, we're just kind of told him who I was, gave him some honey and was like, please don't. Don't shoot me. And he ended up being a really nice guy, and he told me about that area. And as I was leaving, I saw this. This little house, and I was. I was just curious. So I drove up to it, and nobody's home, but I left a little jar of honey and a note that said, hey, I was curious about this little barn next door. Anyway, the guy calls me back and invited me out. We got to know him and found out that he was. His family was one of the three, like, families that settled that whole area. And again, a long story, but they ended up just, like, owner financing, selling us the property. It was like, beyond anything we thought could ever be possible and just a total, absolute miracle. But, you know, we just, again, back to the community aspect. Like, we want to have a space where, you know, we can teach kids how to incubate chickens and how to harvest chicken eggs and how to put on a bee suit and go. Go learn how to be a beekeeper. And so everything for the future, whether it's music, Ava wants to, you know, her dream is to have a worship arts, you know, studio. And so we would have the space to build. Build that out, you know, a lot of things in one place. But ultimately, how do we. How do we love people? How do we love our community? By, like, what you're doing, encouraging people to get outside, to be creative, to. To work with their hands and to dream. And, you know, that's. That's. That's our hope, too.
- [53:14]
Ginny Urch
Yeah. Yeah, it's beautiful. It's beautiful. And what an encouraging message that you can change and that you can plan your course, but the Lord determines your steps. We're really kind of right at the last minutes here, and we always end our show with the same question, so I'm going to kick this one to you, Ava. We always end our show with what's a favorite memory from your childhood that was outside?
- [53:35]
Ava Miller
Yes. Well, I had time to think about this one because I know that you always ask this at the end of every podcast because I. I listen, and I'm so grateful for you and all the ways that you've poured into me and our family. And so, anyway, I say my favorite, favorite memory would probably be going to Prince Edward island in Canada. When I was, I think around 10 or 11, we were taking a trip up the coast to Maine to go to Acadia National Park. And I had been reading the Anne of Green Gable series and had heard that Lucy Maud Montgomery was from Prince Edward Island. And so I just wanted to go and go and just. And see. So I asked my parents, and they. They made it possible for us to go there as well. So it was still Trek, but we ended up going to Prince Edward Island. We saw where Ella Montgomery was born and the places that inspired her writings. Oh, my goodness. It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to, so I highly recommend going there. So anyway, it was just. It was beautiful.
- [54:53]
Ginny Urch
Wow.
- [54:53]
What an adventure. What an adventure.
- [54:55]
That's incredible.
- [54:56]
Well, if people are interested, they can go to Petalhoney Co to learn more. And I am so thankful for you coming on and sharing about this journey and giving people a vision of maybe what they could be trying in their own life. It was an honor to meet you both at fba, Drew and likewise. Thank you for being here.
- [55:13]
Drew Miller
It's petal honeyco.com.
- [55:15]
Ginny Urch
Oh.
- [55:16]
Oh, did I say it wrong before, too?
- [55:19]
I did.
- [55:19]
Drew Miller
That's okay.
- [55:20]
Ginny Urch
I have it wrong down on my paper. Petal.
- [55:21]
I'll put the link in the show notes. It's petal.
- [55:23]
Honeyco.com There we go. There we go. So people can check that out. And I really appreciate you taking the time to be here.
- [55:30]
Drew Miller
Thanks so much for having us. It's been a joy.
- [55:32]
Ava Miller
Yes. Thank you so much.