Rowan Apiary

Rowan Apiary began on June 3, 1967 with Sharon and Jim’s wedding.  Sharon has often commented that she got a package deal – a husband and several hives of bees.  Jim had actually started keeping bees when he was ten years old; continuing with this hobby he had become a passionate beekeeper.  Sharon eased into the business of helping work the hives, extracting the honey, and marketing the product. 

With Jim working at the local bank and managing the insurance agency and Sharon teaching high school English, time for the honey business was limited.  However, in 1980, Jim and Sharon opened a small honey shop on Main Street in Norwich, Kansas.  However, with the birth of their third child, there simply weren’t enough hours in the day and the retail shop was closed. All three children grew up around the bees and have been a wonderful help when the work needed done.  They are all very knowledgeable about the bees and quite proud of their beekeeping background. By 2002 Jim and Sharon had built the apiary up to include around 100 hives and realized the need for a shop to market the honey. So, Jim and Sharon remodeled their Main Street building and put in a USDA certified kitchen. 

Rowan’s Honey Shop is now open regularly scheduled hours and more products are being offered.   Everything in the shop is made with honey and/or beeswax.  Besides providing an excellent quality of local raw honey, they have enjoyed success with some of their other products.  The honey barbeque sauce and the honey horseradish mustard are two favorites among many of their customers.   Sharon has learned to make various kinds of lip balms and soaps as well as some other cosmetic type products.  Fruit from their orchard is also incorporated into many of the products.

Sharon and Jim enjoy visiting with the many people that come to their shop and extend a warm welcome to new customers.

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