Rebecca Shuster has been around the beekeeping industry her whole life. Both her mother Wenyan and her father Steve manage the operations of Bay Area Beekeeping Company, dealing with finances, production workflow, and more tasks for companies like Trader Joe’s which orders 144,000 jars of honey monthly for the local stores. Now 17, Shuster has started her own business, Coastal Queen, creating bee products to promote women’s health. The creation of Coastal Queen stemmed from Shuster’s passion for using restorative products to establish a happier community. As her business slogan describes it, “A healthy queen makes a happy hive.”

Bee whisperer and founder of Bay Area Bee Company Rokas Armonas lifts a plank as Rebecca Shuster, 17, reacts to the bees at the company’s hive in Hayward, Calif., on Tuesday, June 4, 2024. Bay Area Bee Company started after Armonas came to the United States with beekeeping skills from Lithuania. Over seven years later, the company has hundreds of hives across the Bay Area.

Bees surround the queen bee inside one of Bay Area Bee Company’s 15 hives in Hayward, Calif., on Tuesday, June 4, 2024. Main bee whisperer Rokas Armonas often checks the hives, searches for the queen bee, examines bee larvae, and expands the hives to make more room when necessary.

Rebecca Shuster, 17, licks her lips while filling jars with honey at the Bay Area Bee Company’s warehouse in Berkeley, Calif., on Tuesday, June 4, 2024. Her father and founder Steve Shuster, who is out of town this week, manages the financial and business side of the company while Rebecca Shuster said she enjoys helping with production.

Rebecca Shuster, 17, puts on her homemade lip balm at the Bay Area Bee Company warehouse in Berkeley, Calif., on Tuesday, June 4, 2024. Shuster has taken up her own bee business, Coastal Queen, creating products to promote women’s health. Shuster came up with the business idea two years ago, but acted on it in the fall of 2023, filling out legal forms and creating about 100 containers of lip balm with beeswax, essential oils, and lanolin. “I've been around the industry for a long time,” Shuster said. “And I knew that honey and beeswax and even propolis are really healthy and natural. So I wanted to share those, especially with other women because they're great for self-care.”

Wenyan Shuster and her daughter Rebecca Shuster, 17, talk in the car while heading toward San Rafael, Calif., on Tuesday, June 4, 2024. Rebecca hasn’t taken her driver’s test yet but is looking forward to driving across Bay Area bridges with beautiful views soon. The alluring scenes of California inspired the name Coastal Queens. “The California coast has a certain vibe of beachy and healthy, natural and woodsy,” Shuster said. “And that's very bee-like, and we thought that a lot of women and people who would use these products would like that vibe too.”

A seagull flies toward the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, June 2, 2024. When Rebecca Shuster, 17, was younger, she spent time traveling to San Francisco with her father and founder Steve Shuster to deliver Bay Area Bee Company honey to local stores and restaurants.

Rebecca Shuster, 17, puts dishes away in San Rafael, Calif., on Tuesday, June 4, 2024. Rebecca will be a senior in high school in the fall and is contemplating staying in the Bay Area or moving to another state to continue making her bee products for Coastal Queens. She said she would love for the business to continue to flourish. “I would love to sell at Whole Foods, that would be great,” Shuster said. “And I'd like to start local, in the Bay Area…but it would be awesome if it could go farther than the Bay Area to California or other states in the U.S. too.”

Rebecca Shuster, 17, grabs containers for honeycomb at the Bay Area Bee Company’s warehouse in Berkeley, Calif., on Tuesday, June 4, 2024. The company started small, where employees labeled every jar by hand. Now, the company has added machinery to increase production speed for companies including Trader Joe’s which orders 144,000 jars of honey monthly for the local stores.

Rebecca Shuster, 17, holds bay leaves from a tree near the hives in Hayward, Calif., on Tuesday, June 4, 2024. Shuster came up with the slogan: “A healthy queen makes a happy hive” for Coastal Queens and said it has a deeper meaning than literal bees. “We always have to look for a healthy queen,” Shuster said. “Because if the queen is not there, then the hive is gonna do badly…but then more on the people side…if you're a healthy queen, then you can help those around you to be happy.”

Rebecca Shuster, 17, listens to her grandmother Katie Shuster during dinner with her family at Picante in San Rafael, Calif., on Tuesday, June 4, 2024. Shuster is excited about the future. Whether that be participating on her high school dance team or making lip scrubs for Coastal Queens, Shuster said she is grateful for the support from her friends and family. “Whenever I get lazy, I'll just call one of my friends. And I'll be like, ‘I don't want to do this.’ And they'll be like, ‘Why not?’ And we’ll just talk together. And then usually by the end, I'll be like, ‘Okay, I'm gonna do it.’”