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Local Honey
Meet the Producer |
Farm to Henhouse |
Producer Map
In
1896, Cyrus Hawley decided that satisfying people’s
sweet tooth could be profitable. So, he tapped bee hives
by sawing a wedge out of the side of trees and cutting
out the honey. He delivered his natural, golden honey to
regular customers around Iola, Kansas. In the late
1940s, Cyrus Hawley’s son, Eldon, took over the
business. Under his leadership, the business grew until
1953 and the 100º plus temperature caused a meltdown of
his hives. At that point, Raymond took over the
business. In 1962, he bought his Dad out and today
operates the business with his wife, Madeline “Mickey,”
his daughter and son-in-law, Benita and Robert, and
their two children, Tiffany and Brittany, and his
grandson, Chris. They have grown the Hawley Honey Farm
to over 1800 colonies.
“We do all the work ourselves,” Raymond said, “from
building the
bee houses, working the hives and
harvesting to processing, bottling and packaging the
honey.”
They operate from a 100-year old, five-story flour mill
in Iola. They can produce up to 18 barrels of honey per
day.
“We process our honey just like the company did in the
beginning,”
Raymond said. “And you can tell we care when
you taste our honey. It’s pure and smooth, not slick or
creamy. And there’s no bitterness or aftertaste. It has
the same health benefits it did when Cyrus Hawley cut it
right from the tree.”
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