By OLIVIA BERGMEIER
Salina Post
What began as rescuing lost bees that tumbled from passing through semi-trailers transformed into a state-wide business for Allen and Judy Stovall, owners of AJ Honey Farms, LLC.
When most residents hear about "beekeeping," they first think of swaths of hives with workers buzzing about clad in white suits and puffing smoke between frames of combs. However, beekeeping is a much larger profession than just honey collection.
Allen Stovall began the profession in 2016 by saving lost bee swarms from truck stop canopies and relocating them to his and Judy Stovall's, his wife's, backyard apiary.
Judy Stovall completed the store's name, AJ Honey Farms, with her essential role established from day one.
After they collected some backyard hives, the Stovalls contacted The Land Institute to investigate honeybee research and conservation.
"They were looking for somebody to do research with bees, so our first 10 hives we went out to there [The Land Institute property], and they wanted to do silphium flowers, so that's how it started."
Today, Allen and Judy Stovall work toward not only providing raw local honey to the community but also educating and providing tools for those looking to begin their own apiaries.
"A customer gets so excited because their bees made it or he's helped them," said co-owner Judy Stovall. "At the end of the day, we want to help people because we need to have more bees."
AJ Honey Farms provides prospective beekeepers with all the gear they might need to get started, including bee suits, smokers and handmade hive boxes.
Until last year, one or both had separate jobs to continue running the business, but last year, Judy Stovall said she quit her first job to work full-time at the AJ Honey Farms store and apiary.
"It's amazing what we do, and we love what we do," Judy Stovall said. "If someone had told me 12 years ago that I would be doing this, I would've laughed and said, 'No, not happening,' and now it's amazing."
Judy Stovall focuses on selling honey and other products from the store and shipping dozens of honey bear bottles to various outlets across Kansas.
In contrast, Allen Stovall often focuses on designing equipment and mentoring new customers.
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This year, the pair added a new item for sale — honeybee hive bodies of various breeds packaged for those looking to begin their own apiaries.
"This is our first year selling bees, and we've done very well," Judy Stovall said. "We sell it all."
With almost a decade of success, the pair now focuses on growing their operations, aiming to include services like complex honey extraction and, someday, even beekeeping classes.
Allen Stovall said that for their next project, the pair plans to use some grant cash to upgrade their current honey extraction equipment to an automatic system.
"If we end up getting it, this whole area will turn into a semi-automatic extraction system to extract from the hive frames," Allen Stovall said. "Then it goes straight into a semi-automatic bottling system."
Judy Stovall added, "We also want to turn it into a training facility—we want to teach other beekeepers."
With the updated equipment, beekeepers could rent out their kitchen space for their bottling operations instead of purchasing it, and Allen Stovall plans to help them through the process.
In the distant future, the pair aim to purchase some land and transform it into a large facility to train beekeepers and research honeybees for Kansas residents and visitors.
