But as the country entered the Great Depression, work was hard to find. "Dad's dad was a blacksmith. But he had taken 14 swarms of bees on a bad debt, so kept the beehives on the side. When Dad came to Cache Valley, because he had experience with bees, he was able to get work with a honey operation in Wellsville." Soon Marion Cox began with his own hives, and Duane later took over the operation.

Back in the '20s, Margene said, Utah was was one of the premiere places in the country for honey production. "We had all that alfalfa, which produces really good honey."

Now, even though Utah is known as the Beehive State, several other states outrank us in honey production, including Florida, California, Montana, North and South Dakota and Minnesota.

But, Margene said, while other states may outdo us in quantity, the quality of Utah honey is hard to beat. "For one thing, our honey is low in moisture because of the dry climate. That not only means it will keep forever, but also that we can creme (or whip) it with other flavors to make spreads that are very popular."

At honey conventions she's been to, she said, "the only honey that I think compares with ours comes from New Zealand."

She might be slightly biased in her assessment. But there's also the fact that each week the Coxes ship about a ton and a half of honey to locations all over the world.

A few years back, a man from Oman tasted some of their honey at Little America in Salt Lake City. "He found out where we were and rented a limo to come here. He ordered honey from us for several years after that. He particularly liked our apricot cremed honey," Margene said.

It used to be that they sold honey mostly in the fall. Customers would come on Saturdays with their own containers to fill. In 1989, the Coxes decided to expand their operation to year-round service by opening a retail outlet on Highway 89-91 about a mile south of Logan.

"We still raise our own honey, but we also buy honey from other local beekeepers," Margene said. They offer three varieties of honey. Clover-Alfalfa is the mildest and lightest. Cache Valley is a darker, more flavorful honey. Top of the Mountain honey offers a unique flavor of mountain wildflowers. Customers can buy packaged products or can still bring their own containers and have them filled.

During the summer in their gift shop, the Coxes keep a live, glass-enclosed hive so that visitors can see bees making honey. Bees buzz out through a tunnel at the bottom of the hive to gather nectar and pollen from neighboring fields and flower gardens.

Bees make honey for their own use, but a productive hive tends to make more than it needs to sustain itself. At peak times, a good hive can make and store up to two pounds of honey a day.