This week’s spotlight is on Scott Biering, Colleton County Council Member, and owner of Bee City Zoo. Bering’s father, Archie, retired from the Naval Shipyard in Charleston and started working with beehives at what would become Bee City around 30 years ago. As the number of hives grew, he began painting them like city buildings along with roads and signs and the name Bee City was born. Biering adds, “People started getting the word got out. He had a few animals and the visitors started gravitating towards those animals. He started rescuing animals here and there just because he was here and could house the animals.” Bee City kept growing and Biering’s mother opened one of the restaurants in 2001.
Fast forward a number of years and his parents were trying to figure out how to retire. Biering was on a different career path but thought about making a change, “I spoke to my wife about changing careers. I was thinking that I would hate myself in 10 to 15 years if I didn’t change the way I was doing things and get to know my parents as adults. I made mom and dad an offer to buy the business. It took us about eight months to get all the things in line for me to get the house sold and everything lined up. It’s been 10 years and the business has grown exponentially. We’ve gone from five employees to 55, we’ve advanced from 300 beehives to over 11,000 beehives and distribute honey throughout the whole southeastern United States and shipped via the internet worldwide.”
Biering is proud of his accomplishments. They have about 20 acres of property, and an animal population of around 300. He says, “I have over 300 parakeets in my bird aviary and the Nature Center has so much more in there. We have a reptile center that has been doing a joint venture with South Florida State Forestry Commission’s.” They have reptiles from all over the world and are able to teach what roles they play in nature.”
They organize and host educational field trips for all ages, kindergarten to senior citizen. “We do encounters and have educational ambassadors that come out and teach you the different nuances of each animal,” he adds.
When asked about his favorite animals Bering said, “We have giraffes on site. We are the fourth zoo in the state to have giraffes. I’ve always had a passion for kangaroos, monkeys, and owls, but to have giraffes on site that’s something I never thought we’d be able to get to that point. We’ve just grown so much. It’s a joy to be able to do what I do.”
