Junior Chefs

The gift industry is abuzz over the popularity of bees on products ranging from greeting cards and gift wrap to decorative accessories. Says Carrie Chesloff, managing editor of Gift & Stationery Business magazine, "It's pretty widespread across stationery and home decor [categories]."

As to what's triggering this bee-for-all, Chesloff points to the continued affinity among consumers for nature themes. "[Bees are] an element of nature we haven't really exploited up until now in the industry," she says. "So it's fresh."

Speaking of fresh, don't expect to see merely garden-variety depictions of the little honeys. Renaissance Greeting Cards, for example, feature characters that look like a morphing of teddy bears and bees. Now, that's a combination that packs a powerful sting.

This article was originally published in the April 1997 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Junior Chefs.