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Rainy Day Bees
Seattle, Washington
Rainy Day Bees creates small-batch, raw honey from hives across the Seattle area, cared for by dedicated local beekeepers. Founded in 2014 by lifelong Seattleites Peter and Amy Beth Nolte, the business began with a single backyard hive and a love for the complex, neighborhood-specific flavors of local honey. Today, their bees thrive in urban backyards and community spaces, producing honey that’s unfiltered, pure, and brimming with character.
Peter first dreamed of beekeeping as an 8th grader. The middle aged man at the Puyallup Fair never expected that his six words would transform an 8th graders life: “You can keep bees in Seattle.” Peter looked wistfully at his parents, but he already had backyard chickens and homework, so his parents told him, “Not now.” Then, around 2011, after college, a grandmother-figure in his life offered to buy Peter his first hive, and a Facebook friend in Phinney responded to his plea of “who is stupid enough to let me have my first beehive in your backyard”. One hive turned into a few more, this time on the roof at his work, and beekeeping started to become a bigger and bigger part of Peter's life. Joined by Amy Beth, the couple quickly discovered how the taste of honey shifts from Fremont to Phinney Ridge, and they were hooked—Rainy Day Bees officially launched in 2014. In 2016 Peter became a full-time beekeeper and expanded to 5 neighborhoods and started raising bees in Monroe and at Jubilee Farm in Carnation, WA and soon growing to serve multiple Seattle neighborhoods and partnering with backyard hosts.
Now operating a 900-square-foot WSDA-certified facility, Rainy Day Bees not only bottles honey but also crafts beeswax candles, infused cream honey, and honey hot cocoa. Whether you’re enjoying a spoonful or welcoming a hive to your yard, Rainy Day Bees brings the flavor – and the pollination – of the PNW straight to you.
Peter first dreamed of beekeeping as an 8th grader. The middle aged man at the Puyallup Fair never expected that his six words would transform an 8th graders life: “You can keep bees in Seattle.” Peter looked wistfully at his parents, but he already had backyard chickens and homework, so his parents told him, “Not now.” Then, around 2011, after college, a grandmother-figure in his life offered to buy Peter his first hive, and a Facebook friend in Phinney responded to his plea of “who is stupid enough to let me have my first beehive in your backyard”. One hive turned into a few more, this time on the roof at his work, and beekeeping started to become a bigger and bigger part of Peter's life. Joined by Amy Beth, the couple quickly discovered how the taste of honey shifts from Fremont to Phinney Ridge, and they were hooked—Rainy Day Bees officially launched in 2014. In 2016 Peter became a full-time beekeeper and expanded to 5 neighborhoods and started raising bees in Monroe and at Jubilee Farm in Carnation, WA and soon growing to serve multiple Seattle neighborhoods and partnering with backyard hosts.
Now operating a 900-square-foot WSDA-certified facility, Rainy Day Bees not only bottles honey but also crafts beeswax candles, infused cream honey, and honey hot cocoa. Whether you’re enjoying a spoonful or welcoming a hive to your yard, Rainy Day Bees brings the flavor – and the pollination – of the PNW straight to you.
