Daniel Reed
Head Beekeeper & Founder
Family beekeepers since 1892. Daniel runs the hives and writes most of what you read on this site.
How I got here
I started pulling frames as a kid, standing on a milk crate next to my grandfather. My family has kept bees in Northern California since 1892. I never planned to do anything else.
Everything I know about hives I learned in them — reading brood patterns, timing a harvest to the bloom rather than the calendar, and working out the hard way which shortcuts cost you a colony. That is the perspective I write from.
“The bees don't care about your business plan. You either learn to read the hive or you lose the hive. Everything I write comes from that reality — not theory.”
— Daniel Reed
What I do at NorCal Nectar
I split my time between the apiaries and the keyboard. On the production side, I oversee hive health, harvest timing and quality control — every jar of honey and every frame of comb.
On the content side, I write and review the guides across this site — from how to start beekeeping to the science behind raw honey. Articles that are not personally written by me carry the NorCal Nectar Editorial Team byline instead, so you always know which is which. How we source, cite and review is set out in our editorial policy.
What I write about
Start reading
Guides on raw honey, honey sticks and beekeeping — written from the apiary, not an office.