Don Lewis

Owner, Wild Hive Farm; Clinton Corners, NY

Don Lewis began his beekeeping business in the 1980s, suitably named Wild Hive Apiaries. Following Don’s love for adventure and expanding his horizons, Wild Hive became  commercial bakery, which eventually led him to open the Wild Hive Café, which was a paragon of local foods in the Hudson Valley. Eventually, Don gained access to some local grains, and with the help of a local farm, built a small milling facility in a shed near his house. Milling 50 or 100 pounds of grain at a time, supplying the bakery with the first fresh-milled flour in our region in nearly 100 years. Wild Hive now dedicates itself to rebuilding the regional grain-based food system. It focus on creating regional availability of products, and creating and improving food security systems between regions, to defend against the active threat of climate change and chemical-dependent industrial farming. (Clinton Corners, NY)