Our Story

Hi there!

Letters From The Hive will act as a place where we will share a lot of nice and relevant information about our business, honey, beekeeping, sustainability and science! Along with some delicious recipes! 

First, we think it is important that you know who we are, where we come from and why we decided to start Bee Seasonal.

Let us start by introducing ourselves...

My name is Thomas Hübbe!

I was born in Curitiba, Brazil. I grew up living with my lovely parents and younger sister. One of the best memories I have from that time is of the lake house my parents had. It was an old house, but big enough to accommodate many friends and family on almost every weekend I can remember. 

I would spend time exploring the lake and the woods around our house, and that put me in contact with a very special part of the Atlantic Rainforest in south Brazil. I always enjoyed my time in nature, and preferred spending time outdoors. On weekends, my favorite activities included camping and climbing.

When I was 17 I had to decide what I would study during college. I wanted to be an engineer, but I always loved biology, and most engineering degrees do not offer classes in biology-related areas. Luckily, our State University offered a degree called "Bioprocess Engineering and Biotechnology". I was accepted to the program and studied there for 5 years.

During college I fell in love with the science and art of all things relating to fermentation. I was very involved with home brewing during the time and even taught some classes. By the end of 2012 I had decided: I wanted to become a beer brewer.

In 2013 I went to Berlin, Germany, for a brewing internship. Once there I ended up enrolling in the "Beer and Beverage Technology" Master course at the Technical University in Berlin.

It was during this time that I met a very special friend, someone who would change my life forever, and eventually become my business partner... and my wife.

We decided we wanted to do something together. My passion for the outdoors and life sciences, together with Larissa's knowledge and creativity seemed to be a pretty good combination. Little did I know that she already had a pretty awesome idea in mind...

Now it's my turn!

Hi there, I am Larissa Leitner.

I was born in Munich, Germany and was a very adventurous and curious child. Raised bilingual, without a tv, with many international friends and an obsession for all things food! When I was in elementary school my parents decided to move to the US. It was a big lifestyle change.

I started learning the piano and the violin and I fell in love with it! I took part in fiddle competitions and my mom always dressed me in a Drindl (a typical Bavarian dress... very Southwest ;-)).

As a teenager, I spent a lot of time in Germany. I moved there when was 16 for high school and would spend summers with my Oma. I came back to the US and graduated. Entering college I was not really sure what I wanted to study at the University, I just knew that I wanted to get it done as quick as possible.

I decided to study Urban Planning. The way cities and transportation systems are planned in Germany always amazed me, and I wanted to understand how such systems worked. During my studies I spent a summer in Munich working/interning at a Transportation Planning Department. After three years of college I graduated and officially moved back to Munich.

Life brought me to beer! The way I found myself in the beer industry is a very long story, and we will save that for another time. :-) 

I lived with my Oma and went to Brewing School - survived one year as a vegetarian in Bavaria! Worked a wine harvest as well as a hop harvest, where I became very interested in how the combination of human and natural influences can affect the final characteristics of a crop. The concept of terroir.

Berlin caught my attention because it is an amazing melting pot of cultures and I noticed many opportunities there. It was in Berlin, in a school brewery, that I met Thomas. We spent many rainy "dates" in his kitchen brewing beer. 

Like he mentioned above, we wanted to do something together. And I did have a sweet idea in mind...