Henninger Hill Apiary
10828 Crothers Road
San Jose, CA 95127
ph: (408) 251-9214
alan
About Us
Our Business
Begun over 40 years ago, Henninger Hill Apiary operated as many as 260 colonies until, in the early 80's, family responsibilities and the demands of "real" jobs, teaching high school students, took overwhelming priority. Operations were reduced to the hobby beekeeping level, with limited hives, honey and wax production. Swarm retrieval, however continued unabated. In 2002,upon retirement after 38 years of being a classroom teacher, the bee business was expanded in an attempt to maintain Alan's sanity. Retirement can be tough, boring and lonely. Now, in an attempt to at least appear retired, we aim to keep less than 100 colonies and divide our operations between pollinating almonds and honey production. The long term goal in our apiary is to develop a strain of bees that have increased genetic diversity and resistance to diseases and parasites. To this end, we still collect swarms for their gene pools, and use limited or no mite and disease treatments to allow the bees the time to develop their own resistance. We, also, have expanded the number and range of our bee yards emphasizing adequate nutrition and variety of bee pasture in their selection.
Who We Are
Alan and Nella Henninger moved into the house they built on 4 acres off Crothers Road in 1968 and have lived, raised their children and now enjoy the visits of grandchildren there. Both retired high school teachers - Alan in social science and Nella in natural science - they now divide their time between managing the bees and managing the three grandchildren. It's a toss up, in each case, who's managing whom.
10828 Crothers Road
San Jose, CA 95127
ph: (408) 251-9214
alan
