About Us
Concord Farms was founded in 2007 by Ryan Stern. Ryan was introduced to bees when his father, Jim, and brother, Marc decided to start keeping them as a hobby. At the time, it was not a hobby that Ryan had any interest in participating in. After a few years passed, Ryan saw the value in having bees around and decided to help keep them on the farm.
Ryan kept bees as a hobby first and soon made it a sideline business while continuing to work for his family's business. By 2011, he was managing around 400 hives and decided to pursue the bees full time. Over the next several years he continued to migrate with the bees to Arkansas and increased his hives to approximately 1200. After his second child was born, Ryan decided it was time to sell the Arkansas operation and stay stationary in Wisconsin. Ryan's main focus is on hive health and making sure that the bees have everything they need to thrive. As the business has grown, he has stayed committed to spending his days in the bee yards monitoring the bees progress and health. Ryan is also in charge of bulk honey sales and manufacturing bee boxes and equipment.
Ryan met Sarah in 2012 and she quickly became an integral part of Concord Farms. Sarah's first introduction to beekeeping was helping Ryan move hives out of Arkansas in the spring. Sarah learned quickly that bees are not fond of being moved around, especially when it is over 80 degrees at night. Since she could handle the heat, crawling bees, and multiple stings she proved she would be a great asset to Concord Farms. Sarah enjoys grafting and raising queens in the spring and summer and making nucs to sell. "One of the most rewarding aspects of beekeeping is watching a queen that you created start building a hive of her own." Sarah handles the day to day operations of the business and is in charge of retail honey sales.
Ryan and Sarah have two children, Eleanor and Henry, who have started learning about the different aspects of beekeeping.
