Amanda Pevey
Elmore Autauga News
On any given day, you might find Allyson “Ally” Andrews, better known across Central Alabama as the “Crazy Bee Lady,” moving calmly among the hum of more than 100 hives, teaching others to see not fear, but wonder in one of nature’s smallest and most essential creatures. For Andrews, beekeeping is not just a hobby or even a profession, it is a calling rooted deep in family, faith, and a lifelong devotion to the honeybee.
That calling began in childhood, watching her maternal grandfather tend his bees. It was there, she says, that something lasting took hold. Even after a severe allergic reaction landed her in the hospital, an experience that might have ended anyone else’s interest in it. Andrews could not shake the pull. The dream of following in her grandfather’s footsteps endured.
“I love bees, and I can talk bees in my sleep,” said Andrews. “The passion that I have for teaching as many as I can to love, care for, and respect these amazing creatures is large. I am very well known as the Bee Lady and take that title very seriously.”
A third-generation farmer, Andrews held on to pieces of that early inspiration. She keeps her grandfather’s bee brush, once used to gently sweep bees from honeycomb, a quiet reminder of where her journey began.
Today, that journey has grown into a life’s work. Andrews manages more than 100 hives across several apiaries. In 2009, she helped found the Central Alabama Beekeepers Association, serving as its president for 15 years. Through that role, she helped launch annual Junior Beekeeping Camps, opening the door for younger generations to experience the craft firsthand.
Her leadership extends statewide. Andrews became Alabama’s first female Master Beekeeper in 2013 and is a founding member of the Alabama Master Beekeepers Program. She currently serves as vice president of the Alabama Beekeepers Association and plans to run for president for the 2026–2028 term.
Her passion also reaches beyond the hive. Andrews completed her Master Gardener certification in 2018 and earned recognition as a certified Welsh Honey Judge in 2019.
Her livestock bears the Andrews Double A Ranch name. Wildly Blessed, a licensed and insured business that she founded in June 2020, produces honey, including infused and creamed varieties, along with a range of all-natural products derived from her bees.
With all the varieties of livestock on the farm, it also features Elmore County’s first and only mobile petting zoo.
For Andrews, the work is deeply personal and generational.
“Being a third-generation female beekeeper is a huge legacy that I have passed on to my children and to my grandchildren,” she said.
That sense of purpose carries into every part of her life, whether she is at the farm or in her long-time off-farm career.
“If I had to use one word that describes myself at the office and on the farm, I would say joy,” said Andrews. “I am joyful in the place that God has me, wherever that is! My goal in life is to share that joy of my blessings, which are my animals, with as many folks as I can.”
Family remains at the center of it all. Andrews works alongside her children and five grandchildren, passing down both knowledge and tradition, just as her grandfather once did for her.
“It is very important to me to pass my knowledge along to my children and now my five grandchildren,” said Andrews. “I still have some of my grandfather’s bee equipment that I cherish. As the grandchildren get old enough, they are in the hives, working on waxing frames, helping with making, pouring up, and labeling products. When we have a honey harvest, it is a WHOLE family event from pulling the frames in the apiary, to decapping, and spinning the honey in the extractor. It is one of my favorite days of my beekeeping year. Along with my children and grandchildren, I love teaching others the wonderful world of beekeeping. It is in my blood.”
At Wildly Blessed, during open farm days, visitors can make butter, plant pollinator-friendly flowers, learn about honeybees, and even safely hold a drone bee. Guests can also make candles, observe bees up close in an observation hive, and sample honey from around the world, all while interacting with the farm’s many animals.
“The folks love the variety of things we offer,” said Andrews. “We also have honey and all things produced by me for sale at our little farm store/shop.”
Looking ahead, Andrews is continuing to expand both her outreach and her offerings.
“We are planning for a Junior Bee Camp in June, where the folks will suit up and dive into the hives if others desire to do so,” she said. “They are preparing the ground for fall pumpkin patches, by early October, hayrides, animals, food, and pumpkins. Also, Kountry Kritter Christmas with cowboy Santa riding on his trusty horse. A local vendor market for Christmas shopping, and then they will rest and prepare products for 2027.”
For Andrews, the mission remains simple but powerful: to replace fear with understanding, to connect people with the land, and to ensure that the legacy she inherited continues to thrive. In every hive she tends and every person she teaches, she is not just caring for bees; she is cultivating community, one lesson and one generation at a time.
