Producer

Jen's Apiary and Aviary has been in the makings for years.  We've dabbled in backyard animal husbandry with a wide variety of chickens, ducks, and rabbits since 2015.  While all of those animals were fun, quail have become my niche.  I have a small building that once housed our rabbits and have converted it to two aviaries.  I've been breeding my own eggs now for 2 years, and am actively working toward a mild temperament, easily handled flock of quail.  I have many colors and sizes of Coturnix, and typically hatch at least two batches per year.  
The next step in my backyard expansion will take place over the winter and following spring.  I've spent the last two years researching honey bees, hives, and different modifications to help get bees through our unique winters in Southeast Alaska.  I have plans to construct a few modified Warre hives, which are not typically used around here.  They are a "leave alone" type of a hive that you only need to check in on twice a year.  I hope to provide housing and feed to bees and to not treat them with any chemicals (even for mites), overwinter every year, and eventually once I end up with a hive that is mite resistant and adapted to our climate, begin educational outreach and start distributing hives around the Juneau area.

I try to eat organic as much as possible with no pesticides, and I raise my animals the same way.  While I have not received any certifications yet, I hope as I expand both my aviary and upcoming apiary that I can work toward a Certified Naturally Grown or Alaska Grown.
I don’t want to just sustainably raise quail and honey bees in Juneau, but to educate anyone who is interested in either.  I've thoroughly enjoyed teaching about Coturnix at the local middle school last year.  I brought in eggs for them to hatch, discussed egg development and candled the eggs, and even brought in two adults to talk everything quail.  With the bees, once I'm able to get through a winter, I want to build more hives, do splits/collect local swarms, and begin to talk to local farmers or even the community garden about setting up hives to let our pollinators work for them.  My main objective with the honeybees is not honey, it's increasing pollinators in our area and gathering the propolis to harness its unique health properties.  Modifications to the hives I'm building will encourage the use of propolis on hive walls and the top so I can collect larger portions of it each fall as I swap out the boxes.