Kansas Beekeepers and Organizations Help Promote Pollinators
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Honeybees annually pollinate $15 billion worth of U.S. crops, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Sunflowers, canola, cotton and alfalfa all benefit from honeybees.
See more: Bee Pollen: Uses and Benefits
Buzzing with Kansas Beekeepers
Kansas beekeepers often have interesting origins to apiculture. Working at a Salina truck stop, Allen Stovall noticed tractor-trailers would inadvertently leave part of their loads behind. As trucks parked overnight, honeybees would “beard” off the back of the trailer to reduce heat in the hive during the night. The bees wouldn’t be flying yet in the next morning’s chill when the trucker pulled out. Bees fell to the ground and got left behind. Stovall began setting traps to collect the hiveless bees.
Soon Stovall and his wife, Judy, had a new hobby of beekeeping and created AJ Honey Farms.
Eager to learn more, Stovall connected with Gary LaGrange, the founder of Valor Honey, the Manhattan-based nonprofit that helps veterans learn honey production, packaging and sales while receiving counseling and ag training programs. Every bottle of Valor Honey is harvested or bottled by a veteran with all profits going to support veterans.
“Gary took us under his wing and mentored us,” Stovall says. “I’ve been helping the organization for four or five years. I take care of several of their hives, and Judy does bookwork for them.”
AJ Honey Farms sells raw and creamed honey through their Salina storefront, online, at events and through a contract with the Kansas Food Bank system.
Pollinator Promotion
“Our membership in the From the Land of Kansas trademark program helps get our local honey out there,” Stovall says.
The Stovalls also turn beeswax into lip balm, salve, candles and other products.
Stovall also provides pollination services and has about 30 hives feeding on acres of Silphium integrifolium, a perennial related to the sunflower, at The Land Institute, a nonprofit developing perennial grains, pulses and oilseed-bearing plants.
“We harvested over 500 pounds of honey that first year, and we continue to help The Land Institute with studies.” They also enjoy educating the next generation of beekeepers. “I love working with younger kids and trying to spark their interest in a field that is so unique and so needed,” he says. “Bees are such an important part of our natural environment. We need to make sure we are taking care of them.”
To learn more, visit facebook.com/AJHFLLC.
See more: From the Land of Kansas Trademark Program Promotes Kansas Products
Sharing the Vision
As a boy, Tim Urich learned beekeeping by helping his father, even earning the Boy Scout merit badge in the subject. But he took a different path as an adult, becoming a middle school principal. In 2019, he rekindled his interest in bees starting with six colonies. Today, he has about 200 colonies and sells “nucs” (short for nucleus colony, which is five frames of bees and a queen) as T. Creek Bees & Honey.
“I sell between 60 and 80 nucs each spring,” he says.
Urich also produces raw and creamed honey and sells it in bulk to food processors and other beekeepers, wholesale to 13 locations around Topeka, and retail to customers. He produced about 9,600 pounds of honey in 2023.
His fascination is multifaceted.
“In the colony, there are no politics or competing interests, only the shared vision of survival,” Urich explains. “Every insect supports the job of every other bee in the colony. When I host Girl Scout troops or 4-H, we examine the idea of knowing different roles and picking up the slack to benefit the shared vision of the organization. There are lessons we humans can learn from bees.”
To learn more, visit tcreekbees.com.