Homestead Honey Farm (operating as Homestead Apiaries) is a second-generation, family-run honey farm based in Dennison, Minnesota, producing 100% pure, raw Grade-A Fancy Minnesota honey from the Sogn Valley region. Founded in 1972 by Bob and Bette Behlke, the farm is now run by their son Corey Behlke and manages over 8,000 hives across Minnesota and a second location in Texas.

The Beekeeper's Story

Homestead Apiaries was started in 1972 by Bob and Bette Behlke, who learned the craft from experienced beekeepers before establishing their own honey farm in southeastern Minnesota outside Dennison. Today, their son Corey Behlke carries on the legacy as a 2nd-generation operation with more than 50 years of continuous production. The farm is located in the Sogn Valley of southern Minnesota, home to one of the largest existing Old Growth Linden/Basswood Forests, which gives the honey its distinctive light, floral profile. Bees forage across land managed in cooperation with more than 180 landowners, benefiting from the biodiversity of wildflowers, flowering trees, and native prairie. The honey is 100% raw, never cooked, preserving its natural enzymes, probiotics, and pollen. About half of production is sold direct to consumers, with the remainder going to breweries, restaurants, and commercial operations. In addition to the Minnesota operation, Homestead Apiaries manages a second location in Texas to ensure a full bee population is ready each spring.