Each spring, Ard’s Bees travel from their winter job pollinating almonds in California to Necedah, Wisconsin, where they settle in at Webster Creek Solar for another season of foraging nectar. Danielle Ard is a second-generation beekeeper, and she started Ard’s Bees as a full-time business in 2023 with her husband, Michael. They have since expanded to 180 hives, using the delicious raw honey and beeswax for honey jars, lollipops, soaps, candles, and lip balms. 

In the fall of 2022, Natural Resource Services seeded Webster Creek Solar, a 10-acre project in OneEnergy’s Smilodon portfolio, with a mix of grasses and pollinator-friendly flowers. An adjacent field was seeded with a diverse mix of native prairie plant species. One year after the project was built, we asked Michael and Danielle if they would be interested in bringing their hives to the site and, fortunately, they had already identified the area as a great place for some of their bees. 

Now, 20 hives sit just outside of the Webster Creek Solar project fence, where they can easily access nectar within the many flowers blooming on site. By integrating pollinator habitat and solar panels on farmland, bees have a shady place to visit flowers and plenty of biodiversity to satisfy their foraging cravings. The flavor of honey is specific to the flowers where the bees have collected nectar. Danielle and Michael keep honey from hive locations separate, preserving a flavor that is unique to the specific mix of plants at the project.  

Tasty honey isn’t the only benefit from hosting bees. Beekeepers are often paid to bring hives to provide pollination services. The farms adjacent to Webster Creek Solar will likely have higher yields due to their proximity to both Ard’s Bees and the many species of native bees that are drawn to the restored prairie next to the project. Researchers at Iowa State University have found that nearby honeybees can increase soybean yield by up to 20%. 

We are happy to partner with Ard’s Bees and share their honey with communities across Wisconsin. There’s always an open jar in our OneEnergy office kitchen, reminding us of the benefits of connecting with local farmers to use the land for harvesting more than just energy from the sun.