Our business started in 1907 when Carl Fredrick (C.F.) Koehnen and his brother Albert, commercial catfisherman in Tracy, California, acquired their first bee colonies. One thing led to another, and soon Carl split from his brother, and moved to Glenn County. The area then was primarily undeveloped, and honey production was easy due to open land and the huge grain fields that turned yellow with star thistle after harvest.

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(Bill Koehnen, Bob Koehnen, and their father C.F. in the 40s)

Today the present location just outside the little town of Ord Bend is our headquarters, surrounded by almond and walnut orchards, and just yards from the Sacramento River and its rich floodplains.

Until the Canadian border closed in 1987, like many other California queen and package producers, we dealt almost exclusively with Canadian beekeepers. Over the years we've shipped to many foreign countries, including France, Germany, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Mexico, and Costa Rica.

More recently we have shifted our focus to the domestic market only, and no longer ship outside the U.S. Our business has grown, with over 50 full time employees, however, we take pride in providing our customers the same attention and service which has always been an integral part of our company, from its small beginnings.

You can be certain the same integrity & drive C.F. lent to all his work remains a key part of our business. Carl's sons Robert and Bill oversee the queen-rearing and nuc-making process . Yvonne, Robert's wife, you can find a multitude of places on the ranch, in the bee office, sewing beekeeping veils and sleeves, or overseeing our weekly harvest employee lunches. Kamron & Kalin, Robert and Yvonne's sons, manage the huge beekeeping operation, pollination, and orchard production. Mike, Bill's son, is the company controller, overseeing financial and other aspects of the business.

When it's not "bee season" here at Koehnens, beekeeping is still taking place with summer pollination, colony requeening, and colony maintenance, and production is going on in preparation for the next season. Fall is devoted to the harvest of almonds and walnuts, and hulling and shelling often take place 24 hours a day during the months of August, September, and October.