CAMARILLO — From February to September, CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) alumnus Lyndsay Peterson and her partner and former classmate Bryan Castro run their bee business, “Bryan’s Bees.” Business is brisk until October when the bees go into hibernation.
“We would have to lay everybody off in October,” Castro said. “We were like, what can we do between October and the beginning of February when bee season begins?”
And that’s how “Bee Merry” came to be. During the off season, Peterson, Castro, and a team of about ten workers travel around the region decorating homes for Halloween, Christmas, Hanukkah, Diwali (the Hindu festival of lights that falls between October and November) and other events and celebrations. At this point, Bee Merry is doing even better than Bryan’s Bees.
“We’ve done 200 houses this season,” Castro said. “Celebrity estates, commercial buildings, businesses. Most of our clients are in the luxury market. This week we are doing the home of a rock star and the Four Seasons in Westlake Village.”