Weaver Family Story

Our story began in 1888 when newlyweds, Zacharia Weaver and Florence Binford, received ten hives of bees as a wedding gift. Zacharia was a farmer and merchant by trade who took great interest in this gift, creating a thriving side business which developed into a successful source of income and livelihood. In 1916, Zacharia and Florence's son, Roy S. Weaver, Sr succeeded his father as the head of Weaver Apiaries.

Roy Sr was passionate about growing the family business. Not only did he want to produce honey for people to enjoy, but he also sought help others who aspired to have bees of their own. Before long, Weaver Apiaries began producing queens and package bees for sale. Ever diligent in their work, the Weaver Family soon earned a world wide reputation as producers of superior queens.

In the 1940's, after each receiving college educations and completing military service, Roy Sr was joined by his two sons, Roy S Weaver Jr and Binford. Roy Jr's main focus was queen rearing, with a particular interest the work of Karl Kehrle, a Benedictine monk and beekeeper at Buckfast Abbey, also known as Brother Adam - the developer of the Buckfast Bee. Roy Stanley Jr (who we all at R.Weaver Apiaries know as "PawPaw") heard tales of the beekeeping monk and his work. Ever the student, PawPaw began mail correspondence with Brother Adam and later made the journey to become a student of the beekeeping monk. With Brother Adam's blessing, PawPaw later brought Buckfast genetics back to Texas to incorporate into the Weaver stock.

 

     

In 1968, Roy Jr's son, Richard joined Weaver Apiaries and the company continued to thrive. Several years later, Binford's son, Danny, joined and Weaver Apiaries continued to grow and enjoy success.

Although the burgeoning familial hive was bustling, brothers and cousins began to develop differing philosophies regarding methods of beekeeping. In 1994 the brothers agreed it was time to "swarm", so Roy Jr and Binford chose to divide Weaver Apiaries into 2 companies, R.Weaver Apiaries and B.Weaver (now known as BeeWeaver) Apiaries.

In 1998, R.Weaver Apiaries was joined by Richard's son, Clint, and the fourth and fifth generation continue to work bees on the same land as it all began over 130 years ago. While some of our methods have changed a bit overtime due to challenges in modern day beekeeping, our mission has remained the same: to produce and supply high quality bees, provide education, and to share our passion for beekeeping with aspiring beekeepers everywhere.