‘He makes all things new’: 400 queen bees saved as Vidalia business rebuilds after fire

by Steven Glover

TOOMBS COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) -Twelve years of work went up in smoke Tuesday, but a Vidalia honey bee supplier vows to rebuild.

Charred vehicles, twisted metal, and heavy smoke are all that remain of Vidalia Apicultural Services and Bee Company.

General Manager Breanne Stanley said barely 10 minutes after closing up shop for the evening, she received an urgent phone call from her father.

“He tells me, ‘You better get here right now or you’re going to lose everything,’” Stanley said. “And I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ And he’s like, ‘It’s on fire, it’s on fire, the bee place is on fire.’”

By the time she arrived, flames and black smoke had already consumed their livelihood.

“We pulled in, and it’s just engulfed... almost all the way to the office,” Stanley said. “It just broke my heart because me and my team have been working so hard, and we just got through one of our really busy seasons, and it was just truly heartbreaking.”

Amid the inferno, first responders provided a glimmer of relief. Firefighters pushed into the office building ahead of advancing flames, successfully rescuing more than 400 queen bees.

While sifting through shattered glass and water-soaked ash, crews also uncovered an intact sign reading: “He makes all things new.”

“For somebody to walk out holding this sign, it was truly a sign from God, you know,” Stanley said. “It was just letting us know like, hey, I got you guys, don’t worry about it, I got you. I’ll make it all new.”

Fire investigators say the cause of the blaze remains undetermined.

Despite the total loss of their facility, Stanley says their immediate focus is caring for the surviving bees, fulfilling customer orders, and rebuilding.

“We just know that God is going to get us to that next step,” Stanley said. “To anybody in the community, just thank you from the bottom of my heart... always reach out a helping hand when you can.”