About Awen
It all began....
My grandfather kept bees and though I was too young to really remember any of it, the future seeds of beekeeping were firmly planted within my young mind. At age 21 I got my first apartment and started to read whatever books I could get from the local library (this was before Google) on bees and beekeeping. My first refrigerator magnet had flowers and bees and in the center it said "Beekeeper". I still have that awesome little dollar store magnet. Bees just always fascinated me and the idea of getting fresh honey the bees collected from the surrounding area seemed like magic to me.
Fast forward 20 years
Someone I was introduced to had began keeping bees and wanted to see if we would put one of his hives in the yard so he could get some honey. After many years of chasing my career and personal ambitions, getting married and having three kids, I suddenly realized that I had put my beekeeping dream on hold. Sure, I still bought and read beekeeping books and catalogs with a "someday" mentality but having a hive in our yard changed everything and I wanted to learn more! A year later I had my own bees and hives in place and finally achieved my dream of being a beekeeper.
It's not always easy
With the entire family on board we all started working together to make sure Awen Apiaries delivered the best products we could possibly dream up! I personally did not want to use any bought foundation, wanting the bees to build combs from their own wax and not use any chemicals or pesticides. It was a struggle and it still is difficult to raise bees naturally but we believe it creates a more authentic, natural and healthier honey and better bees in the long run. So what does "AWEN" mean exactly? It's actually a Welsh, Cornish and Breton word meaning poetic or divine inspiration. Seeing bees gather nectar and pollen to create honey from local vegetation and the patterns they use to build natural comb is proof that they are programmed to do such things. We hope you will decide to give our honey a try. We are confident you will agree that chemical free honey tastes better and is definitely divinely inspired.