OUR STORY

THE BEGINNING

In 1968, Derry Harris, Paul’s Dad rented the Salzman apple orchard in Trimont, MN. As part of orchard farming, bees are a critial component in the pollinating of the apple trees for a good apple harvest in the fall. Thus began the Harris families journey into bee keeping and honey production.

Paul took over the bee keeping operation from his Dad in 1980. He was the sole bee keeper during these years, having up to 100 hives. The extracting and bottling operation was done in a renovated barn on the Ott farm in rural Trimont.

HARD TIMES

Paul’s brother Shawn joined the operation in 1993 and the two brothers operated the beekeeping and honey business jointly. The honey house was moved to the family farm where Shawn and his wife Jen lived. They farmed together until Shawn passed in the fall of 2016. Retiring in July 2018, Paul plans to rebrand the honey business, move the honey house to St. James and expand his operation to include more retail sales.

REBRANDING

Plans are underway to expand the line of honey products to not only have raw and liquid honey but to include honey soap, milk/honey bath bombs, beeswax candles and other personal care products made with honey/beeswax. Re-branding with a new logo, web site, and Facebook presence, are all a part of the expanding story of Harris Honey.