The city of Bee Cave officially incorporated in 1987 to fend off annexation attempts by Austin. Dietrich Bohls was one of the first documented settlers in western Travis County. In the 1850s, Bohls moved from Austin to the Bee Cave area, looking for a place to raise his family away from the confines of the city and its influence.

so where are the bees?

According to legend, in the 1800s, there were limestone cliffs along Little Barton Creek – which flows through the city – that had big bee colonies. Another theory came from Carl Beck, a general store owner, who became the area's first postmaster in the 1870s. His daughter, Helen Lallier, told The Austin Statesman in 1969 that he named the area after a hive of "Mexican honey bees" attached to his store.

Is it “Bee Cave” or “bee caves”?

Bee Cave is the name of the city. Bee Caves (plural) is the name of the road - well, sometimes. Heading west from Mopac, drivers who exit on Farm-to-Market Road 2244 enter Rollingwood, where the road is called Bee Caves Road – plural.

Once you enter Westlake, the signs say you're on Bee Cave Road – except for a few blocks in the middle when you're inexplicably back on Bee Caves Road. Follow that road to the city of Bee Cave, and the signs tell you that you are mostly on Bee Caves Road!