The History of Richard’s Apiaries

Fourteen year old Homer W. Richard discovered a swarm of bees while walking home from school in the early spring of 1903.By quickly tying knots in the legs of his flannel "long johns" and gingerly slipping it around the cold huddled mass of bees, he captured his first swarm. A quick and crudely constructed bee gum and a burning zeal for his new hobby were the necessary elements to launch Richard's Apiaries.

Starting in Oklahoma and then moving to south Arkansas during the oil boom of the early 20's, Homer established himself as a honey producer and a package bee supplier. Hard work and determination raised three sons in the family business with close to 1000 colonies at the peak. Homer's life rule was "do as much as possible and work as hard as you can and let nature take its course.

In the end you will be successful". That motto propelled him through "the great depression", an 80% colony loss due to cotton poison in the late 40's,and various family health issues.

In the mid-70's James Richard Sr. the eldest son continued the family tradition and extended honey routes throughout Arkansas and north Louisiana. He also produced and sold queens and packaged bees while operating a local Dadant bee equipment and supply house.

Richard's Apiaries suffered great losses again in the late 80's and early 90's with the rise of the "tracheal" and "varroa" mites. The beekeeping industry as a whole was devastated nationwide by these two parasites. The family business was reduced to 12 hives by the spring of 1999. Although there are now chemicals that offer some control of the these mites, the fight for healthy and strong beehives is still obvious.

James W. Richard, Jr. started grafting queens again in the spring of 1999. By the fall of that same year he had established about 100 colonies. James and Renee Richard and one son Gabriel, live in Saline county just outside of Benton, AR. and currently operate around 300 hives. Richard's Pure Raw Honey can be found in health food stores, grocery chains, gift shops and produce markets across central and south Arkansas.

When you buy a jar of Richard's Pure Raw Honey, You can feel assured that it has been produced locally to have beneficial pollen content. It has also been strained only by gravity through a cheese cloth to insure that it is still pollen enriched. And the hives have been given "natural medications" instead of dangerous chemicals that may have harmful effects on the body. We strive to bring you the freshest, tastiest and most organic honey that Arkansas has to offer. If you haven't already, then go ahead and try a jar of Richard's Pure Raw Honey today. Gabriel says, "it's the BEST”.