Since 1996, Jabooka Bee Candle & Co., has been locally owned/operated and creatively designed by Michelle Hockema. The name “Jabooka” derives in combination of her late father’s name “Jack,” and his pet name for her “Boo.”

Michelle started making candles in her kitchen as gifts for family and friends as well as frequenting area trade shows, festivals, and craft fairs selling her wares. Soon, the demand for her unique candles exceeded her kitchen forcing her to seek factory space large enough to handle the growing rush of orders. A retail gift shop accompanied the factory and rapidly grew to boast a delightful inventory of candles and accessories which flourished more than 4 years. The increasing wholesale demand and growing webstore forced Michelle to close her retail store and move yet again into a much larger facility in order to meet these needs.