Raising Our Flag: From Startup to Operations

Today, we raised the Desert Farms Apiary flag beneath the American flag here in West Richland, Washington.

It may seem like a small thing, but for us, it marks something much bigger: Desert Farms Apiary is officially moving from startup and development into active operations.

Over the past several months, what began as a plan on paper has steadily become a working farm and apiary.

Building Desert Farms Apiary

Desert Farms Apiary is the operating brand of Strait Family Farms, LLC, a veteran-owned small farm built around beekeeping, honey production, pollinator habitat, and accessible agriculture.

When we began developing the property, there was a considerable amount of work between having land and having a functioning apiary. That work has included clearing brush, leveling and preparing the bee yard, improving the pastures, planning pollinator forage, developing our farm infrastructure, acquiring equipment, completing certifications, establishing the business, and preparing for the arrival and expansion of our colonies.

Piece by piece, that infrastructure has come together.

Our equipment and storage capabilities continue to grow. The bee yard is being prepared for dedicated hive stands and an expanding colony count. Our forage plan is taking shape with clover, lavender, Mahonia, and other bee-friendly plantings planned throughout the property. We've invested in the tractor and equipment needed to maintain and improve the land. We've also begun building out the honey harvesting, extracting, bottling, and value-added production capabilities that will allow us to handle more of the process right here on the farm.

And most importantly, the bees are here.

With the addition of six established colonies and the equipment needed to support them, Desert Farms Apiary is no longer simply preparing to become an apiary. We are operating one.

More Than Honey

From the beginning, the goal has been larger than simply producing jars of honey.

We are building Desert Farms Apiary around a model of small-scale, sustainable and accessible agriculture—demonstrating that farming can take many forms and that physical limitations do not necessarily mean leaving agriculture behind.

Thoughtful farm layout, mechanization, purpose-built hive stands, efficient honey-handling equipment, and other adaptations are all part of making the operation sustainable for the long term.

Our bees will also be part of a much larger agricultural ecosystem here in the Mid-Columbia region. They will forage well beyond our property, supporting pollination throughout an area surrounded by farms, gardens, orchards, pasture, and native vegetation.

At home, we're working to make our own acreage increasingly valuable to pollinators as well.

Building a Veteran-Owned Farm

Our transition into operations also follows several important milestones for the business.

Desert Farms Apiary has been recognized as a Washington State Veteran-Owned Business, and Strait Family Farms has continued pursuing programs and opportunities available to veteran-owned agricultural businesses.

Our beekeeping foundation has been strengthened through training and involvement with organizations including Heroes to Hives, the Washington State Beekeepers Association, and the Farmer Veteran Coalition.

Those relationships, certifications, and educational opportunities are helping us build this operation deliberately rather than simply grow for the sake of growing.

Our objective remains a manageable commercial-scale apiary appropriate for our 2.4-acre West Richland property, with gradual expansion toward the property's allowable hive capacity as the land, forage, infrastructure, and business develop.

Raising the Flags

That brings us back to today's milestone.

At the top of the pole is the American flag.

And beneath it now flies the Desert Farms Apiary flag.

For a veteran-owned farm, there is something especially meaningful about seeing those two flags flying together over the property.

One represents the country we served.

The other represents what we're building in the next chapter.

The Desert Farms Apiary flag doesn't mean the work of building the farm is finished. Far from it. There are hive stands to build, colonies to manage, pasture to improve, pollinator habitat to establish, honey to harvest, equipment to organize, and plenty of lessons still ahead.

But there is an important difference now.

We're no longer building a farm that will someday operate.

We're building an operating farm.

There will always be another project, another improvement, and another expansion on the list. That's part of agriculture. But the foundation is here, the bees are here, and the operation is underway.

Today, we raised our flag.

And with it, Desert Farms Apiary officially moves from startup to operations.

Here's to the next chapter.

Desert Farms Apiary
Strait Family Farms, LLC
West Richland, Washington
Veteran-Owned • Veteran-Operated