This year’s Farmer of the Year award goes to Gibbs Apiaries, ranking among the region’s most prominent professional beekeepers. They produce honey and wax and provide pollination service to other growers and the State of California. Local growers also enjoy the pollination from the bees’ 3-4 mile hike each day. John Gibbs caught his first swarm of bees in 1983 and from that time forward he couldn’t leave them alone. John’s farm grew from then on, totaling 4500-5000 hives, operating with 4 employees. In 2019 the honey production was 160,800 lbs. of wax. John was able to do some pollination here in New York and said “the best part is sending 3672 hives to California for almond pollination.”
