How this 70-year-old honey bee farmer is keeping his family farm alive: 'We completely rely on Mother Nature'

A 70-year-old beekeeper, David Bradshaw, is keeping Bradshaw Honey Farms running in Visalia, California, relying on multigenerational work and seasonal crop partnerships. The second-generation owner’s father, Howard Bradshaw, founded the farm in 1958 near their home, later moving the family to a five-acre property in Visalia in 1970. Howard built a business that rented bees to local farmers to pollinate crops, and David says he never intended to take over when he was younger, aiming instead to become an automotive mechanic. After Howard died in 2019 at age 81, David continued operating the farm from the same Visalia property with his wife. His daughter manages honey bottling full time, while his son helps as needed. Each year, he rotates his hives beginning mid-February in almond orchards, then cherries and prunes, followed by citrus in late spring, and moves the bees to the Sierras in summer through early fall. Honey extraction requires collecting honey supers from each colony and transporting them back for days of processing.