Jelly fit for a queen
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The buzz in Valley Cottage is that whether the bees are working for the people or vice versa, the little stingers are propelling an annual $12 million, 100-job business.
Back in the 1980s, new mother Madeline Balletta was busy raising two small children and, like a lot of harried moms, was feeling drained, drawn and down. A friend recommended she try something called “royal jelly,” a product from England her buddy swore would rejuvenate the user. Balletta was skeptical but decided to give it a shot.
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“Within a few months,” said Jason Balletta, the company”™s executive vice president. “Mom actually began to feel more energetic and active.” A switch to healthier foods and a positive attitude, which Jason attributes to the royal jelly supplement, became part of Madeline”™s daily routine. Â
After doing some research, Madeline wondered why she couldn”™t replicate what was being done in England here in the U. S. The Balletta”™s Valley Cottage home literally became their cotttage industry and Bee Alive took off.
Royal jelly, the nectar worker bees feed to their queen, keeps the mother of the hive alive for six years, while its workers die off in six weeks, said Jason Balletta, who has taken over the company”™s daily operations from his  retired mother. “People are looking for natural products to enhance their lives now more than at any time in our lives. We”™re not claiming royal jelly is going to work miracles, but it certainly doesn”™t hurt the queen bee, given her life span.”
Extracting the special food that workers feed their queen is an “extraordinary process,” said Balletta. “They are fooled into feeding a tube, and that”™s how the royal jelly is extracted from them. We don”™t freeze dry the product but we do keep it refrigerated. (Freeze drying removes the moisture, an essential part of the product”™s makeup.)
Balletta, like his mother, believes, “Nature is God”™s pharmacy, and there isn”™t anything on this planet that can”™t be used for a good purpose. We may not have found all the cures yet, but I believe they are out there waiting to be discovered,” said Balletta. “My mom”™s first customers were her friends and family, and they told her they really did feel a difference. It only helped to spur her on to get the word out. Her first marketing experience was wearing a Bee Alive pin on her lapel and handing out fliers.”
Today, a marketing department does the legwork, “but word of mouth is, and always will be, the best testimonial to a product”™s credibility,” said Balletta.
Madeline Balletta”™s “cottage” industry is still in Rockland County”™s Valley Cottage, but it”™s come a long way.
“Back in 1989, my dad purchased this property and built a 7,000-square-foot building here for us to work out of. It was getting kind of cramped in the basement ”“ taking orders, shipping them and doing our packaging and mailing in addition to trying to man the phones. We are just two miles from mom”™s house and all the people who work here come from the immediate area. We really feel we are a community-based business, and some of our best workers are over 80.”
Today, Bee Alive”™s headquarters has its own call center for both ingoing and outgoing callers, customer service, research and development, office space and a 21,000-square-foot distribution center a short hike down the road that moves products  across the country.
“Nothing is outsourced,” said Balletta, “except the royal jelly, which we buy from Thailand.” Colony collapse disorder, which has many in the US concerned, is not affecting the Far East. The company is contributing to research on the phenomenon and to find ways to keep honeybees healthy and continue to contribute to keep nature in balance.Â
Bee Alive now readies to celebrate its 25th anniversary, “a milestone for us and a validation that we”™re doing something right,” said Balletta.
“One thing we are coming to consensus on as a society is that natural-based remedies are preferable to manufactured drugs,” he said. “We”™re becoming a green planet again. Mom may have been ahead of her time without even knowing it; today, we have 20,000 regular customers all over the United States who swear by our products and order regularly, and we gross more than $12 million a year in sales. That allows us to employ nearly 100 workers and keep our local economy going. More importantly, we believe in what we are doing and that we are helping people and staying community-oriented. That”™s been our mission from day one.”
The company”™s got a  new mission, said 37-year-old Balletta: to get the word out to those under 40 and young professionals who want to look lean, healthy and want something natural ”¦ not just by introducing the company”™s traditional health and skincare products but a new line of body building formulations. Â
“Drinking cans of power drinks isn”™t going to do it,” said Balletta. “They give a sugar rush and they are loaded with caffeine. When they wear off, people just crash. Our new line, Energy Serj, gives those who are looking for a boost something they can drink that”™s healthy and better for their bodies and boost their energy without crashing.
Energy Serj is made with schisadra and elaeuthero, and of course, royal jelly. “I think people who try it are going to be in for a pleasant surprise; it”™s a great alternative to the power drinks out there now.”
You won”™t find Bee Alive products on your natural food store shelves. “Not yet, anyway,” said Barletta. “We like being in control of our product and keeping it family-oriented.
You can find it at his sister Lori”™s shop, Color Swirl, on Main Street in Nyack. “If people would like to check it out, they can go to Lori”™s shop or visit us on the web at beealive.com. I think people looking for something that is natural and good for you are going to be pleasantly surprised.”