Who knew a story that started as a simple interest in honey bees would turn into what has become Giofre apiaries and honey ice cream.

In 2009 Nancy started with two hives which she had purchased from a local beekeeper. After the 4th year or so we learned good, basic skills of beekeeping, and we were fortunate enough to be able to purchase a retired beekeeper’s warehouse full of equipment, with a few live colonies included, enabling us to grow at a rapid rate.

We began getting acquainted with other beekeepers, though our local bee club, Boone Regional Beekeepers. We have made a lot of new friends and built relationships, of those many friendships we are especially fond of Art and Vera of Walkabout Acres. They operated a petting zoo with an observation hive as one of their attractions, which fascinated everyone. After seeing the hive, everyone was treated to honey ice cream which Art and Vera had produced. For years Art and Vera had supplied the Missouri State Beekeeper Association with honey ice cream which has been sold at the Missouri State Fair.

In 2013 Art and Vera decided to retire, that is when we decided we wanted to try making the honey ice cream. That also meant we had to be able to produce ice cream for the 2014 Missouri State Fair! By April of 2014, we had our building completed and all the inspections and permits obtained. Our first task was to complete 5000 cups of ice cream by the middle of August. Wow! We did it and it was exciting, and special thanks to our neighbors/family, for helping us to achieve our goal that year.

Our goal is to produce a delicious ice cream, with good fresh Missouri products, such as Missouri grown Elderberries, Blackberries, Paw Paws, Pecans and Black Walnuts. We are always open to meeting new producers to use their produce/ product in our recipes.

Domenic & Nancy Giofre