A Long History in Oregon

Our history in Portland goes back over 120 years. You might have known us as Ruhl Bee Supply.  Actually, the original company was Williams Bee Supply, a multi-generational family business. The Williams eventually sold it to the Ruhl family, who ran it and still keep bees after four generations. Seeing the need for modernization, they sold the Supply business to the Edwards in 2006. Out of respect for the Ruhl legacy, we kept the Ruhl name, but our company has always been Bee Outside LLC. 

We were fortunate to grow Ruhl Bee substantially, but realized that to continue our growth we needed to partner with a bigger player, so we merged with Brushy Mountain Bee Farm. Sadly, while this merger added to Brushy revenue, it did not help our Northwest customers.  We believe Brushy lost sight of their customers, which led to its recent collapse. This forced us to start fresh and unfettered, giving us a unique opportunity to refocus. We are glad to say we are back with a tighter focus on core beekeeping and on core product. As of 2023 we have also opened a wood shop and hub in Staunton, Virginia to enable cheaper shipping costs for our Midwest & East Coast customers.

At Ruhl Bee we tried hard to source local product and only sell product we believed in. Our new focus will expand on this approach, by choosing NorthWest product sources first, including our own manufacturing, and second choosing US sources.  Only as a last resort will we go outside the US.  While profitable, importing has hidden costs in carbon footprint and lost US jobs.  We know this approach will cost us some sales, but this is our position.  

Thanks for giving us a chance to serve you.  We hope to do it well. 

In the Press:

"Best Beekeeping Suppliers Across North America":  https://nycbeekeeper.com/the-best-beekeeping-suppliers-across-north-america-a-regional-guide/

"Everyday Heroes": https://katu.com/news/local/everyday-heroes-beekeeper-and-bee-expert-john-edwards#