Shop Around: New Blythewood business is all the buzz

Scott Derrick makes it business to know all there is to know about bees.

After 18 years in the flavor and fragrance industry (he created flavors for Lance foods and fragrances for Bath and Body Works' products among others), Derrick decided to leave the corporate world to spend more time with his wife and their four children. That's when the Columbia native and Navy vet began putting his skills from the corporate world to work, creating products for the beekeeping industry, one of which — a pheromone-laden juice called Swam Commander that attracts bees to colonies — has seen international success with distribution in Australia and New Zealand.

At the same time, around a decade ago, Derrick also started Blythewood Bee Co., a bee removal service based from his home in Blythewood. Derrick soon began to see more interest in personal beekeeping nationwide, which led him to expand Blythewood Bee Co. and to offer beekeeping equipment and supplies. Last week, Derrick opened the first brick-and-mortar shop for the business at 227 McLean Road in Blythewood.

In less than a week, Derrick has had more than 200 customers.

"There are a tremendous amount of people getting involved in beekeeping," Derrick said. "And it's just expected to grow exponentially in the next five years. People are looking for sustainable products they can create on their own. We're going back to the way things were in the 1920s and 1930s when our grandparents kept their own hives and sold the honey they collected."

Before the shop’s opening, potential beekeepers in South Carolina had to drive to the Greenville-Spartanburg area, Georgia or North Carolina to get supplies, Derrick said.

"I'm getting folks from Charleston, Summerville, Aiken," Derrick said. "Folks have been having to order products online and now they can get them locally here."

And, Derrick said, no city, county or state ordinances exist to prevent beekeeping on any parcel of land.

"Take into account your neighbors if you live in a subdivision but there are no ordinances that would prevent anyone from starting beekeeping anywhere," Derrick said. "Folks in New York City can now have beehives on the tops of their high-rise buildings. Even the White House has its own bee colony."

This story was originally published February 18, 2016 at 4:39 PM with the headline "Shop Around: New Blythewood business is all the buzz."