Hives to honey
This honey farm is the bee’s knees
It started with beehives.
When Alethia Prettyman and her husband Tony, married 20 years ago, he was a second-generation beekeeper; she was a novice, but interested in bees. They lived in Hopkinsville and bought three hives to keep bees.
Later, when they moved to their 20-acre farm, where they are Pennyrile Electric members, the enterprise grew—up to 180 hives set up on 30 or so farms and selling their Kentucky Proud raw honey at area stores and the downtown Hopkinsville farmers market. In addition, there is their multi-acre garden producing mounds of fresh vegetables and herbs.
“Every year I try to grow my herbs as companions with what I’m growing,” says Alethia. “I try to grow dill with cucumbers so I can make dill pickles, and I try to grow basil with the tomatoes.” Of her sage and several mint varieties, she says, “I know the bees like them.”
