SHEPHERDSTOWN — Last September, Shepherdstown resident Jason Murphy opened up the town’s first beekeeping supply business, Hive House Apiaries, at 108 South Princess Street.
While the business had existed for a little over four years, at that point in time, it had largely been relegated to the back burner in Murphy’s life, as he kept busy throughout the week as a professional tattoo artist. But when the COVID-19 Pandemic struck the Eastern Panhandle last March, Murphy began to realize the temporary closure of tattoo parlors was giving him the opportunity to grow his beekeeping supply and consultation business.
“We were running the business out of our apiary for a while,” Murphy said, referring to the apiary on his farm on the outskirts of Shepherdstown. “When the pandemic hit last spring, I realized I needed to do something else to bring in an alternative income. This [business] is 95 percent of what I’m doing. The pandemic came along and kind of forced my hand. I think it’s a kind of fortunate forcing, because I’m really enjoying this. It looks like it’s becoming a full-time job!”