Meet the Team
Steve Ryle - Owner of The Bee Store
Steve is an active Beekeeper who manages multiple hives over several bee yards in Northern Virginia.
He started his beekeeping adventure in 2018 and became addicted to the hobby. He really enjoys working with other Beekeepers and plans to make The Bee Store a one stop shop for all beekeepers in the DC Metropolitan area and beyond.
In addition to Beekeeping, he’s also a Network Engineer at Northrop Grumman and designs Low Voltage Cable plant networks.
Rhonda Ryle - Co-owner of The Bee Store
Rhonda is the reason why Steve is a Beekeeper as she introduced the idea to him in 2018 after attending a C.E. Conference on Beekeeping.
Rhonda is an active Veterinarian at Summit Veterinary in Gainesville and she also works at some of the festivals and markets for The Bee Store.
Cat Leivonen - Store Manager & Beekeeper in training
As store manager, Cat works with the team to keep the shelves stocked and organized, putting her business management and visual design studies to good use. She loves bees and has greatly enjoyed learning more about them and the many aspects of keeping bees while working at The Bee Store. Someday she hopes to have a hobby farm where she can keep bees of her own while maintaining other livestock and various produce. In the meantime, Cat also runs a pet-care business and enjoys spending time outside gardening, hiking, and painting.
Milo Gann - Sales Associate & Beekeeper in training
In addition to being a Sales Associate at The Bee Store, Milo is also learning to become a Beekeeper and helps in our Workshop with making products for the Store. Her enthusiasm and love of Bees are a wonderful addition to our team.
Milo is very artistic and is one of the people who designs a lot of creative signage that can be found in the store.
Esteban Hernandez - Sales Associate & Beekeeper in training
Estaban is another one of our Sales Associates, who’s starting his own product line working with Raw Honey and Beeswax and hoping to introduce his line of products to The Bee Store when he’s mastered his craft.
Esteban is also new to the Beekeeping world and is learning to become a Beekeeper.
Paige Brown - Sales Associate & Beekeeper
Paige is a Seasonal employee at The Bee Store and a full-time student at Penn State University. She is the President of their Beekeepers Club and is also a Beekeeper herself.
Paige is also very artistic and creates a lot of wonderful signage for the store.
Nicole Myers - Soap Maker
Nicole started making soap to help with her son’s skin condition and had been hooked ever since. She now makes our new line of Cozy Bee Beeswax Soaps.
Nicole is the only employee from the previous ownership to stay on board with us and she also has a small farm and volunteers locally as well.
Lindsey Aebli - Product Maker
Lindsey is the brains behind The Cozy Bee Line of beeswax products at The Bee Store. She has created a lot of our products from Lip Balms, Perfume Balms, Lotion Bars, Facial Scrubs and Bath Bombs. There are still many items being added to The Coxy Bee Line-up to come.
On top of Product Making, Lindsey is also a licensed Veterinarian.
Beana Olivia Kuntzman - Sales Associate & Beekeeper in training
Beana Olivia is our newest addition to The Bee Store team. She’s a full-time student at George Mason University and is learning to become a Beekeeper.
