Central Iowa Beekeepers Association
January Face-to-Face Meeting
Saturday, January 18, 2025
1:00 PM
Reserve this date - we hope you will join us! You do not need to be a CIBA member to attend, but we hope this meeting will entice you to join our organization!
Location
Northridge Baptist Church, 3700 6th Avenue, Des Moines
​
NOTE: Park in the lot on Clinton Avenue but enter the building by the door near the alley (not Clinton Avenue), where there is a wheelchair ramp. Picture below to assist in identifying the church entrance:
​
​​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​Schedule: We’ll have a business meeting and annual election, snacks provided by the CIBA Food Committee, then a presentation by Chelsa and Connie Bronnenberg from Spring Valley Honey, Value-added Products to Complement Honey Production. Please make sure you’ve paid 2025 CIBA dues because only current members are allowed to vote in the annual election.
​
​​
​
​​
​​​
Presentation
Spring Valley Honey Farms is a family business, owned and operated by Curt and Connie Bronnenberg in Perry. With a 40-year history, Spring Valley currently has 5,000 colonies producing more than 250,000 pounds of honey annually from hives in Boone, Dallas, Greene, Guthrie, Henry, Lee, Polk, Sac, Story and Webster counties. They also provide pollination for Iowa orchards in summer and almond orchards in California in winter.
The Bronnenbergs market honey in various sizes from 2 oz. bears to 55-gallon drums. They expanded the product line to include hot honey, creamed honey, popsicles, Bee Well elderberry elixir and gummies, honey sticks, candles, wax melts, their own brand of bath and body products, jewelry, honeybee apparel and sourdough breads, among other items. Daughters Christa, Chelsa, Cara and Ciera, along with their families, help with bottling the honey, hand-crafting beauty products from honey and beeswax, as well as design and production of several other products. They also have a full line of beekeeping equipment.
Connie is involved in most aspects of the business while being active in CIBA and the Iowa Honey Producers Association. Chelsa, the 2007 Iowa Honey Queen, is a nurse and mother of two. She also works part-time to help the family grow the business, focusing on marketing and other products to increase locations where Spring Valley honey is sold.