Palmetto Farms grew from something personal to our family. During a difficult season, I watched Joe find peace in the bee yard. Seeing what that time meant to him inspired me to build a family business around caring for the bees and sharing what they give us.
Amanda Ferst
The bees came first.
We began with two hives. Time in the bee yard became the foundation of Palmetto Farms, and caring for the bees remains at the heart of our family business.
“In the bee yard, I found the peace I had been missing.”Joe Ferst
Time together at the hives.More from the farm Our apiary, our growing yards, and what comes next
The main apiary
Lake Wales, and yards across Florida.
Palmetto Farms began with two hives. Today we keep bees throughout Florida, and Lake Wales is the Palmetto Farms main apiary.
Palmetto Farms is woman owned and operated by the Ferst Family. Founded and owned by Amanda Ferst. Joe keeps the bees. We tend the colonies ourselves, with support from the wonderful community of beekeepers and friends. We bottle raw and unfiltered. We are building a small destination on six acres so people can taste the honey where it is made.
Among the hives.
Growing
The Avon Park yard.
The night we expanded to Avon Park. We split the Lake Wales colonies, added mated queens, and moved the new hives east, with a stop at another outyard in Central Florida along the way. Lake Wales stays the main apiary. The bees work more of Florida now.
Loading out for Avon Park.
What we share
Honey, hospitality and care.
The box open now is Coastal Harvest: raw, unfiltered mangrove honey from our bees on the Florida coast. Saw palmetto is the bloom the farm is named for, and that honey comes next. We are excited for the 2027 harvest as well, with founding members first. We keep the bees with minimal intervention, the way we were taught. Small-batch. Nothing added. Nothing stripped away.
Our first 150 Founding Edition boxes are not mass produced. We assemble and personally pack them as a family, with gratitude for everyone joining us in these early days.
A closer look inside the hive.
An experience already taking shape
A place to return to.
The experience begins with your first visit to the site and carries through choosing, receiving and sharing your honey. Farm experience visits are already scheduled for November 2026. Buildings projected for 2028 will expand what we are building here.
