In a world obsessed with surface-level health, two radically different experiences are helping people actually heal from the inside out:

• Form First, led by Hunter Schwietz in White Bear Lake, MN — where form, structure, breath, and mobility are retrained for pain-free movement and real performance.

• Honeycomb Cottage MN, in Stillwater — where clients lie above 150,000 live bees and experience deep, vibrational nervous system recalibration through apitherapy.

If you live in or around St. Paul, Minnesota, you’ve probably noticed something: sauna culture is booming. From neighborhood co-ops to sleek biohacking hubs, the Twin Cities are experiencing a heat-based health renaissance.

But for all the benefits of a good sweat, there’s something most saunas don’t offer—bee-powered, EMF-harmonized recovery.

At Honeycomb Cottage MN, just 35 minutes northeast of downtown St. Paul, you’ll find one of the only hive-air therapy centers in the U.S. And if you’re serious about stress reduction, longevity, or nervous system health, it’s the natural next step after your sauna.

Stillwater isn’t just Minnesota’s most charming river town—it’s also becoming a hidden gem for wellness lovers. Whether you’re sweating it out in a wood-fired sauna under the stars or relaxing in an infrared spa downtown, Stillwater offers seriously rejuvenating heat therapy options.

Sauna is having a moment—and in Minnesota, it never really left. From Stillwater to St. Paul, wood-fired and infrared saunas are popping up in backyards, spas, and scenic parks. People are rediscovering the timeless value of heat: sweating out stress, improving circulation, and resetting the nervous system.

Bees breathe through spiracles—tiny openings that draw oxygen directly into their body segments. But more importantly, they create collective breath—through synchronized wing movements, thermal regulation, and the fanning of air.

Welcome to Honeycomb Cottage MN, one of the only places in the United States where you can experience hive aerosol therapy—a rare form of respiratory support, nervous system regulation, and immune tuning that relies on the full spectrum of what a honeybee hive produces and releases.

But how does it compare to more common therapies like salt rooms, steam inhalation, or nebulizers?

Across continents and centuries, through oral tradition and whispered dream, the bee has always carried more than pollen.

It carries messages.

From the Anishinaabe Miskwaadesi (painted turtle) stories to Mesoamerican codices, from African initiation rites to Celtic bone lore, bees have been seen not just as insects—but as emissaries between worlds.

They are winged ones who move between the seen and unseen, entering flowers, burrows, hives, and human homes with symbolic precision.

In the hills, prairies, and riverfront towns of the St. Croix River Valley, something extraordinary is happening. The Pollinator Friendly Alliance (PFA) — a volunteer-led nonprofit based in Stillwater, MN — is restoring hundreds of acres of native habitat, educating thousands of Minnesotans, and reviving pollinator populations across the northeast Twin Cities metro.

The hive aerosol you breathe at Honeycomb Cottage MN contains:

• Antimicrobial terpenes from propolis and floral oils

• Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) with immune-modulating effects

• Trace bacterial and fungal spores that may help train the respiratory microbiome

• Pollen-derived flavonoids and polyphenols known to reduce inflammation

• Naturally ionized air, thought to improve lung function and reduce allergens

Bees mix this raw material with their enzymes, wax, and saliva, creating a sticky antimicrobial compound that’s used to:

• Seal cracks in the hive

• Mummify invaders (yes, really—ants or mice that die in the hive get encased in propolis)

• Disinfect the inner surfaces of the hive

• Sterilize the brood chamber for newborn bees

But propolis doesn’t just coat the hive.

Through wing-fanning, heat, and hive metabolism, volatile propolis compounds are constantly released into the air as part of the hive aerosol—which is what visitors breathe at Honeycomb Cottage MN.

Across ancient cultures—from the hills of Greece to the sands of Egypt, from Anatolia to the Minoan isles—the bee appeared again and again as a symbol of life, death, fertility, and transformation.

At Honeycomb Cottage MN, nestled within the Regen Homestead in Stillwater, Minnesota, we believe healing starts with the land—and the land has a language. Sometimes, it speaks through the hum of 150,000 bees. Other times, it sings through the whisper of wind in birch leaves, the distant call of a thrush, or the delicate shape of deer tracks in spring mud.

That’s why we’re honored to partner with Maria Wesserle of Four Season Foraging, whose work in wild edible education, animal tracking, and plant ID perfectly complements the apitherapy experiences we offer here on-site. Together, we’re co-creating a regenerative, land-based learning space for all bodies—human, plant, and pollinator.

At Honeycomb Cottage MN, our mission is to nurture nervous system balance through the hum of the hive, grounded in ecological wisdom and regenerative wellness. That’s why we’re proud to partner with Singing Nettle Forest Stewards (SNFS)—a nonprofit forest education collective based in Oakdale, MN—that shares our deep love for nature, embodied learning, and community care.

If you’ve ever read the work of Ray Peat, you know:

Health isn’t about suppressing symptoms.

It’s about restoring cellular energy—and protecting the fragile balance between structure and function.

Peat’s work illuminated the metabolic roots of disease, highlighting the roles of:

• Mitochondrial respiration (not glycolysis)

• Carbon dioxide (not just oxygen)

• Structured calm (not sympathetic overdrive)