Carrie and Carl Biorseth settled here in 1894. Carl would eventually be known as “The Bee-man” because of the large bee business he and Carrie would develop.

Carrie is given credit for actually starting the bee business. In about 1910 she caught a colony of wild bees. In time she enlarged it to several colonies and proceeded to sell honey.

About that same time, Mr. Biorseth, a former newspaper editor, was having a difficult time supporting his family in the tiny community of Englewood. It was decided Carrie and the children would continue to run the farm at their homestead on the Mystic River (later to be renamed Forked Creek), while Carl would move to Sarasota. He would work doing wallpaper hanging, painting and carpentry.

On a regular basis Carrie would hitch up Prince, the horse, to a wagon, ford Mystic Creek and drive herself to Sarasota on a sandy, rutted, cow path of a trail to bring her husband supplies. The trip took all day and required an overnight in Sarasota. Along the way she would sell or barter some of the produce from the farm to other settlers. Soon the honey started being sold on these trips and was an instant success.

Carl was quick to pick up on the success of the honey. He developed several bee yards, or apiaries, here in Englewood and went into the bee business full time. He also opened a retail store in Sarasota where he sold all the supplies for raising bees. In just a few years Carl acquired a statewide reputation in Florida’s huge bee industry and even became the state bee inspector.