Honey, We’ve Got It: Stafford Beekeeper Celebrates Latest Harvest

On the last weekend in May, most Stafford families were abuzz with the excitement of summer’s arrival. The Allwine family was abuzz with excitement over the annual AA Farm Honey harvest.

AA Farm Honey Co., founded by Kenny Allwine, is in its third year of honey farming. Allwine, who works in software technology, started with two hives, which grew to 15 the next year, and jumped up to 25 this year. Allwine, a Stafford resident, got into beekeeping because he was curious. He reached out to local beekeeping groups to learn more, taking classes and working with a mentor from King George’s Gateway Beekeepers Association. Allwine said the classes are a valuable resource, and having a great mentor is the key to success.

Allwine keeps hives at his father’s farm in King George, just over the Stafford County line, where the colorful boxes line the gravel driveway beneath the trees. Allwine’s son and nephew have enjoyed helping paint the boxes over the years: one is inspired by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, while another boasts the blue and grey of the University of Mary Washington (UMW).  Allwine, his wife Stephanie, and his brother Kyle are all UMW alumni; Allwine also serves as an adjunct professor at the campus. Kyle was Stafford’s Economic Development Director before taking a role at Northern Neck Cooperative.

Allwine visits the hives every week, checking whether they need new layers of boxes to keep growing and making sure they seem healthy. Some of his hives have come from calls for honeybee relocation, and some just showed up on his father’s farm, swarming on nearby trees.  Honeybees can travel up to five miles to visit flowers, their main food source.

After monitoring the bees throughout the year, adding sugar water during leaner months when nectar is scarce, the annual honey harvest is the biggest event for the farm.

On harvest weekend, three generations pitch in: Allwine’s father and son, both named Kenny; and his brother Kyle with his own son, also named Kyle. After removing frames of honey from the hives, the group spends the weekend in Kenny Senior’s workshop slicing the thick wax coating off of the honeycombs before inserting the comb trays into a centrifuge. The machine spins out the honey, which then flows out of a spigot at the bottom like liquid gold.

The honey is then filtered several times before being jarred. This year, they harvested 250 pounds of honey; last year, they pulled 60 pounds. Allwine sells the honey online, notifying subscribers by email when they are available for purchase. Last year’s offering sold out in days.

Allwine’s father, Kenny Senior, said the bees have not attracted any bears so far, but they are popular with the local skunks. He said the skunks will “knock” on the house to make bees fly out, then catch the bees for a quick snack.

Allwine said the most rewarding part of beekeeping has been spending time outside sharing the buzz with his kids — and passing down a love of nature, one hive at a time.