Most children who are stung by a bee remember the pain, but Mikaila Ulmer remembers the lesson that came after. At just four years old, she was stung twice within a week while playing outside her family's home in Austin, Texas. She was frightened at first, but was then encouraged by her parents to learn more about bees instead of fearing them. As she discovered how essential honeybees are to pollinating crops and maintaining ecosystems, another idea arrived from an unexpected source: her Great-Granny Helen's 1940s flaxseed lemonade recipe. Mikaila replaced sugar with local honey, entered Austin Lemonade Day and a children's business fair in 2009, and began selling what was then called BeeSweet Lemonade. According to Me & the Bees Lemonade , the business was created with a simple purpose beyond selling drinks: help save the bees by educating customers and donating part of its profits to organizations that were working on pollinator conservation.
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