A Smithers teen has been keeping busy during the pandemic by starting her own business.
Fifteen-year-old Ana Stavast has started making and selling lip balm at the Out of Hand store.
Stavast and her mom started some beehives a couple of years ago to help with the bee population and she wanted to do something with the waste.
“The way you extract the honey, you have to take off the cappings and there isn’t really any use for them except to make candles and cosmetic things,” explained Stavast.
“From the cappings, you have to process it so it becomes pure wax. You soak it for three days to dissolve most of the honey and then you melt it and strain it a couple of times to get all the grass and pollen out of it. I strain it through a t-shirt so it is super fine and nothing gets through. Then my mom uses a knife to shave it off and that is what goes into it [the lip balm.]”
The idea to create lip balm came from a demonstration she had to make for the local 4H club. She then switched up the recipe and started selling it on Facebook before bringing her product into Out of Hand to sell.
Stavast added this is helping to keep her busy while not attending school in person.
She wants to see how the harvest goes this year before thinking about expanding her business or trying new products.