The Ardent Apiary of Lake Mills, IA has been producing small batches of local honey since 2020. 

“We started when we bought this old, abandoned acreage,” said owner Adam Stene, who with his wife Rachel raises three colonies of bees, bottling around 600 lbs of honey annually.

“Somewhere around that number,” Adam Stene said. “We measure it by the five-gallon bucket.” 

The Stenes are also raising lavender plants, selling the fresh cut flowers at farmer’s markets along with their bottled honey. 

“We were just excited to get our lavender through the first year to see if it would grow here in our climate,” said Rachel Stene. The Mediterranean plant only has a few varieties that can survive in Iowa. 

“It’s a plant that thrives on neglect,” said Rachel Stene, “…but not too much neglect. Most of it came back, and so we’re just plugging away at putting some more plants in and hopefully it continues to grow.” 

Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig visited the acreage on Wednesday to welcome the Apiary as the newest participants of the “Choose Iowa” program, which highlights and empowers small Iowa food producers with grants and resources for their emerging businesses. 

 “There’s a ton of interest on the part of consumers wanting to shop local,” said Naig.  “They want to get out and have a farm experience, dine on the farm, go to farmers markets, buy direct.” 

“There’s all sorts of benefits to the program,” said Adam Stene, “…but we’re looking at matching grants for storefronts, marketing, that kind of thing.” 

Products from The Ardent Apiary can be purchased at the Forest City and Lake Mills Farmers Markets. The Forest City Farmers Market is open from 3-5:30 PM until September 26th while the Lake Mills Farmers Market is open from 2-6 PM until October 23rd.

The Ardent Apiary’s products are also available by contacting them via their Facebook page or by email.