Messner Bee Farm

A local beekeeping business run by a Raytown-and-Lee’s-Summit couple that grew from a single backyard hive into an award-winning downtown Lee’s Summit storefront selling their own honey and beeswax goods.

• Name: Messner Bee Farm
• Type: Maker / retail — local honey and beeswax products (honey, lip balm, candles, soaps, colognes)
• Owner: Rachael and Erik Messner
• Established: Farm founded 2011; first store 2017 (Raytown); downtown Lee’s Summit store opened August 2024
• Address: 26 SE 3rd Street, Lee’s Summit, MO 64063
• Signature: Raw, infused, and creamed honey; beeswax lip balm
• Status: Active (verified 2026-07-15)
• Tier: 1## Description

Messner Bee Farm is a family beekeeping operation that sells the honey it harvests along with beeswax products — lip balm, candles, colognes, perfumes, and soaps. Its downtown Lee’s Summit store at 26 SE 3rd Street is a second storefront, joining the original shop at the couple’s Raytown home and beehives. The business qualifies for the Registry as a Tier 1 locally owned maker per the Registry’s non-service-industry expansion.

Ownership and history

Rachael and Erik Messner both attended elementary school in Raytown and high school in Lee’s Summit, giving the downtown location personal roots. The couple built their first beehive in 2011, a year after marrying, and received their first bee colony as a gift in 2012. Rachael developed their first product — a beeswax lip balm — in 2014 after an early successful harvest. The first Messner Bee Farm store opened in 2017 at the site of the couple’s home and hives in Raytown. In August 2024 they opened the downtown Lee’s Summit storefront at 26 SE 3rd Street, a space formerly occupied by Cameron’s Home Furnishings. ^{1 2}

Links

• Website: https://www.messnerbeefarm.com/
• Downtown Lee’s Summit directory: https://downtownls.org/directory/listing/messner-bee-farm

Sources