Todd Trotte can’t pinpoint exactly why or when he got into beekeeping.
His great-grandfather had been a beekeeper and Trotte retains a vague memory of standing in front of a hive as a young child, but neither seems likely to have set his course to beekeeping.
But he was the kind of person who’d tried an array of hobbies, some of which stuck, while others didn’t. “About 13 years ago, I was looking at a Harriett Carter catalog and saw beekeeping stuff, so I bought a hive,” he says. “Things grew quickly and I got up to close to 100 hives. That’s when I realized I could take this to the next level.”
When he set up those initial hives, Trotte and his wife were living in northwestern New Jersey, in a town called Lake Hopatcong. Because he chose to set up his first hives overlooking the lake and since he could see the lake whenever he worked the bees, the name Lakeview Apiary seemed like a logical choice.
Sera Petras Photography
Trotte learned his craft from an old-school beekeeper who lived on Long Island.
Trotte learned his craft from an old-school beekeeper—a practice he recommends—who lived on Long Island. “I found him through the internet, and he mentored me online,” he says. “I would send him bee questions and he’d respond back.”
After taking early retirement from Verizon, Trotte was looking for a way to fill his time, so he set his sights on adding heirloom vegetable cultivation to beekeeping. That plan necessitated a longer growing season, so he and his wife began looking for a house and farmland farther south.
Multiple camping trips took them through possible places to relocate and eventually Virginia beckoned. They found what they were looking for in 2020 in a house in the village of Morattico and purchased farmland nearby. “I wrapped up my business in New Jersey,” he says. “Once I got down here, I started over.”
About 13 years ago, I was looking at a Harriett Carter catalog and saw beekeeping stuff, so I bought a hive. Things grew quickly and I got up to close to 100 hives.
– Todd Trotte
Currently, he maintains 40 production hives in his yard as well as hives at the Tides Inn. “I have two other bee yards, which are where people let you keep your bees on their property,” Trotte explains. “They’re farmers who let me put my hives on their land.”
It was year three before Trotte first began selling through local merchants his Lakeview Apiary honey harvested from his hives. It’s now available at Rise & Set Provisions, Jeff’s Country Market in Reedville, Rocks to Gems and Crystals in Lively and The Local in Irvington. “At first, I fought to keep up with demand,” he says. “Once my honey was carried in stores, I had to stop private sales to keep it for my commitments.”
When owner Heather Cash of Rise & Set Provisions went looking for a bulk honey supplier for her refillery store in Warsaw, she turned to Trotte. Cash knew the importance of local honey to her customers, not only for top-quality flavor but also for the allergy benefits of ingesting local honey. The issue was finding a source that could accommodate the 3 to 4 gallons the shop cycles through each month.
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Because she strives to work with as many local businesses as possible, the local organic business-to-business relationship was key. “Todd’s been such an asset to work with, not only for consistency in product, but in educating our staff on how to speak about the product to customers,” she says. “It was super important for us to have someone so hyper-local.”
Customers can also find Lakeview Apiary honey at seasonal farmers’ markets including Urbanna, Irvington, Reedville and White Stone. Yet another satisfied customer is Executive Chef Kyle Perkins at the Tides Inn. Perkins discovered Trotte’s honey at the Urbanna Farmers’ Market as part of his effort to build out the restaurant’s local sources. “It’s consistently a good, clean honey that you can tell comes from happy bees,” Perkins says. “Honey butter is a southern tradition, so we use it with our bread service. Guests can taste that it’s a quality product.”
After 13 years working with bees, Trotte finds himself in a position to help novice beekeepers via his YouTube channel. “I’m sharing what I’ve learned from my experiences, and I gear it to beginners,” he says. “I’m not saying it’s the only way to do things or even necessarily the best way, like I don’t wear a bee suit, just a mosquito net over a baseball cap. It’s just my way.”
Sera Petras Photography
And his way suits him just fine. Admittedly burned out after a demanding career, Trotte, who describes himself as anxious by nature, feels that quality is more than managed by the calming effects of beekeeping and the satisfying work of farming five acres. “Beekeeping isn’t a set-and-forget hobby; it’s really a part-time job that requires more time than you think,” he says. “It requires patience not to push the bees and just let them do what they do.”
As for Lakeview Apiary’s future, all Trotte knows for sure is that he may add some new queen bees to diversify the genetics of his hives. “I’m just starting to get everything dialed in here,” he says with satisfaction. “I plan to keep going until it’s too much for one person, then maintain. It’ll always be just me working the bees.”
Lakeview Apiary I Lancaster, Virginia I 973-214-8479 I Find Lakeview Apiary on Facebook and Instagram.
A Friendly Reminder: Bees are essential pollinators and should be treated with care and respect. Successful beekeeping requires training, mentorship, and proper hive management—not simply collecting bees from the wild. If you’re interested in becoming a beekeeper, connect with local experts or beekeeping organizations to learn safe, responsible practices that protect both you and the bees.
