Derek Haars

Northstar Apiaries produces high quality, small batch honey. Northstar Apiaries believes strongly that the terroir of each hive location enriches and deepens our experience. Derek Haars has been caring for bees at Sharing Our Roots for three years. Derek first got involved with Sharing Our Roots (then Main Street Project) through his friend, Tom Loretto, who owned what we now know as the the Sharing Our Roots Farm. Since Tom's passing in 2021, Derek has cared for his three beehives on the property.

Derek manages approximately seventy hives across northern Rice County and operates as a small-scale, non-migratory beekeeping company. He partners with local sustainable farms because of their good habitat, shared sustainability goals, and strong customer base. The honey gathered at partner farms (Waxwing Farm, Little Hill Berry Farm, Shepards Way Farm) is sold to consumers through their Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs or farm stores. In addition to farm store sales, Northstar Apiaries sells to local coffee shops. This season, Northstar Apiaries is only producing honey, but in the future, they hope to diversify their business by selling wax products and raising and selling queen bees.