ABOUT US

Prairie Ridge Honey Farm - Our Story

My beekeeping experience began in the mid 1970s when I took a 4-H project involving honey bees.  My first exposure to honey bees found me enjoying every minute that I spent with them .... for the most part. I was able to accept the fact that stings were an inseparable part of beekeeping however negative they are.  I quickly found that honey bees were extremely fascinating and better still, they were challenging and offered a rich reward and sense of accomplishment. My youthful beekeeping experience blossomed and I found myself growing from 2 beehives to 8 over the span of several years. I had a great older man that mentored me and in those early years. He offered me sound advice and help that helped me achieve success. By the mid 1980s, I had to separate from my small honey bee hobby as life changes began. As I started a family and changed home locations several times, this separation would last for quite awhile.

In 2013, after learning that I kept bees in my youth, my wife encouraged me to return to beekeeping. That suggestion did not take much convincing on my part. So, during the Spring of that year, I began keeping bees once again. However, I did learn very quickly that keeping a consistently successful honey bee operation is a huge challenge today ..... with many more issues to address. I quickly realized that beekeeping as I knew it as a teenager had changed and that numerous challenges that were not present in my youthful beekeeping days are very much a part of keeping bees today.  Learning more ..... much more, became a goal of mine.  Through a combination of learning, practicing new methods, and learning from experience, I now steward my bee operation successfully. Believe me, that is easier said than done.  Honey bees remain challenged on so many fronts that are critical to their survival. Today, I find myself caring for my bees as their ally and greatest advocate. I really enjoy beekeeping today despite all of the hard work and effort that is involved. Fascinating, essential and sweet - that is how I would describe my perspective that describes beekeeping today. 

We are not a huge, commercial honey producing operation. Although our honey harvests are respectable, we have one eye on the quality of our product ..... all of the time. Our honey harvesting and bottling set up is not immense. I complete all of the honey harvesting tasks myself even though it takes many days and long hours to complete. With Prairie Ridge Honey Farm being a smaller scale operation, the consistency in the high quality of the product that we offer to you, the customer, will remain the same. Thank you for visiting our website!