Take Some Trees, add Some Bees...
Written by Gayle
David grew up in LA, so you'd think that beekeeping was just about the last thing on his mind. He was busy in the Real Estate business in the San Fernando Valley, and doing well. He had always been interested in agriculture, food, sustainable development, and environmental economics. His father purchased Green Valley Ranch in Somis in 1999 as a retirement project and kept inviting David to come help him on the more-than-100-acre Ranch. David wasn't interested.
But then 2008 happened. Real Estate collapsed, and David finally did what his father had been asking him to do for several years--come help manage the farm, now renamed Jefferson Farms. There are mostly avocados on the property. Starting in 2003 they had their own bees to pollinate the trees and other crops. Once David came on board, he expanded the number of hives so that he could increase the honey production. Now they have between 850 and 1,500 hives, depending on the time of year and how healthy the bees are.
Now David and his father manage all of the operations together, but David is in charge of the beekeeping and honey operations. David sends the bees many places to pollinate various crops, and as a bonus, he gets some unique varieties of honey.