Our Story

Hansen Honey Farm is a locally owned, family beekeeping operation in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. What started as a hobby for Chris Hansen, turned into a growing business that now involves his whole family.

Chris first became interested in bees as a child, watching his father and grandfather who kept bees on the dairy farm where he was raised in North Central Wisconsin. Due to a family member’s allergies, Chris had to delay starting on his own beekeeping journey. Finally, in 1998 Chris was able to purchase his first 2 hives. Over the next three years he expanded to 20 hives with no sign of stopping.

In 2003, Chris married his wife Jodie and together they moved to Rhinelander to expand their business and their family. The older Hansen kids will recall fond memories of selling honey at farmers markets and visiting bee yards. As business grew and demand increased, the Hansens expanded into transporting their own bees across the country and selling live bees and queens to other beekeepers. Long-time customers will remember buying bees and supplies out of the Hansens single-car garage! Officially established in 2012, Hansen Honey Trucking is now recognized by beekeepers across the country as a leader in honeybee transportation expertise.

In 2015 the Hansens purchased their new location, allowing them to open a full-time retail space. Subsequently they have embarked on many new endeavors, including partnering with other local beekeepers to continue providing raw honey sourced from the Northern Great Lakes area, and also providing specialty honeys from crops found across the US. Chris has also recently expanded into opening a woodshop and manufacturing his own woodenware. The Hansens woodshop now produces almost the entirety of the boxes, frames, and more, that they sell in their store, manufactured at their Rhinelander woodshop with American lumber.

As time goes on, Hansen Honey Farm has become a generational endeavor. It’s rare to find a day when the oldest Hansen daughters -fourth generation beekeepers- aren’t managing the store, running the woodshop, checking bees, and more.

The Hansens are involved in continuing their passion for beekeeping by being involved in community education. They actively assist individuals, local schools, and youth programs in bringing bees and education opportunities to those interested in starting their own beekeeping journey. Through local beekeeping organizations, classes offered at the store, individual consulting and more, Chris is passing on his legacy of family beekeeping to others throughout Northern Wisconsin.