Meet Jen!

Jen's Apiary and Aviary is an ever-evolving dream of mine that was officially established in 2025.  I love knowing where my food comes from, and I try to eat local and organic as much as possible.  I raise my animals and grow my food with that in mind.  It is a goal of mine to be a local source for sustainably raising quail, eventually bees (yay!), and spread interest in these bodacious birds and bees throughout our community in Juneau and Southeast Alaska.

It all began when I was little and wanted chickens more than anything else in the world.  I even devised a plan for a coop, how I was going to care for them, and was met with constant "no's".  That little girl grew up and discovered how much fun backyard animal husbandry really was (I was right all along), but chickens were just the beginning.  We've raised ducks and rabbits and loved every animal we've ever had.  Hatching quail eggs was a fun experiment that quickly turned into my niche, and what will most definitely be a lifelong passion. 

 

The vision of an apiary recently entered the equation when I began to get curious about my fear of bees (stemming from a few run-ins with ground nests as a child).  By researching and reading everything I could about honeybees, my fear was quickly replaced with nothing but love, awe, and admiration. 

 

1 out of every 3 bites of food we consume are made possible by pollinators.  Honeybees produce a sweet nectar that is well loved in our home, but they also give off healing frequencies and make propolis which has amazing medicinal properties in and of itself.  We have a unique opportunity in Southeast Alaska with our remote and closed off communities.  My goal is to build a modified version of the hand's-off Warre Hive based on my research over the past few years.  One day I hope to repeatedly and successfully overwinter bees (and do so without treating them for mites), ultimately creating a strain of bees that thrive in our climate and are naturally resistant to varroa.  Once I can make this happen in my yard, the next step is to start putting hives in our local community garden and small farms throughout Juneau and other outlying communities.