Virginia is a third generation beekeeper.  She began beekeeping in 1964 when her father, Joe Stephens, gave her a beehive as a birthday gift.  Keeping bees in North Carolina and Tennessee, Virginia and her Father had a hobbyist beekeeping business for many years.  Virginia was the first state winner in Tennessee 4-H for Beekeeping and was a Tennessee State Honey Queen.

After moving to Atlanta, GA and having a career in banking, Virginia began keeping bees on her farm in North Georgia and became active in beekeeping clubs.  Virginia is the past President of the Metro Atlanta Beekeepers Association and the Georgia Beekeepers Association.  She is currently a member of the Board of Directors for the American Beekeepers Federation (ABF), and chairs the Budget and Finance Committee and is a board member of the ABF Research and Technical committee.  Virginia is also the first and only female member of the Farm Bureau Honeybee Advisory Committee.  In 1993, Virginia was named Beekeeper of the Year, for Georgia.  In 2002 Virginia was named North Georgia Farm Woman of the Year by the Georgia Farm Bureau.

Virginia and her husband, Carl, are now full time commercial beekeepers and queen producers.  They are charter members of the Russian Queen Breeders Association and are the only certified Russian Queen Breeders in Georgia. (Nationwide there are 14 certified Russian Queen Breeders).   Russian bees are well known for the large yields in honey production, available to resist the deadly mites infecting bees today and have never been associated with the Colony Collapse Disorder.  The Webb’s manage over 400 colonies of bees plus their queen yard.

Virginia is a highly sought after speaker for the beekeeping industry and agriculture; where she has worked with beekeepers in almost every state and has traveled to Europe and the Caribbean teaching beekeeping for the US Dept. of Agriculture. 

Teaching others about honeybees and their roll in agriculture is an important service that Virginia has done for over 30 years.  Each year she speaks to thousands of school children, church groups, civic organization and retirement centers about beekeeping.

Virginia is a Master Beekeeper and serves as treasurer of the Georgia Beekeepers Assoc.

Carl began keeping bees in the 1957. He has lived in Europe, Africa and the United States. Living in the mountains of north Georgia, our bees produce the finest honey in the world. Our apiaries are located in areas that produce the best Sourwood Honey. Carl is the Past President of the Georgia Beekeepers Association and 2002 Georgia Beekeeper of the Year.

The honey house (see above) has state-of-the-art extraction equipment. The machinery uncaps the comb and uses centrifugal force to separate out the honey. It is minimally strained to remove wax particles, and then pumped to holding tanks. There it is bottled and sealed. You can be assured that MtnHoney is never heated, thus preserving all the natural enzymes, anti microbial properties and microbial qualities that nature intended.

Virginia has won awards in local, state, national and international Honey Shows. Over the past 15 years she has received over 100 1st Place Awards including 20 Best of Show Awards for honey and beeswax entries. For each of the last 10 years, Virginia has won First Place at the National Honey Show sponsored by the American Beekeeping Federation. In 2005 at the first ever World Honey Show held in Dublin, Ireland the Webb’s Sourwood Honey won “BEST HONEY IN THE WORLD”. Again in 2009, at the World Honey Show, held in Montpellier, France the Webb’s Sourwood Honey won the Gold Medal for “BEST HONEY IN THE WORLD”. They are the only beekeepers to win this award twice. Now you know when you purchase MtnHoney, you are truly getting the Best Honey in the World.

Articles about the Webbs and their honey have appeared in such T.V. and publications as:

Country Living June 2010	Georgia Back Roads Spring 2008	Lake Oconee Living Spring 2007	Atlanta Journal-Constitution March, 2005
Sept 8, 2005 Top Stories "Georgia Journey: Best Honey in the World"	N.E. Georgia Living Summer 2004	Family Circle Nov 2002