Eez Beez
Webster City youth builds his own bee farm business
-Messenger photo by Kolleen Taylor <br>Evan Ely, of Webster City, works to build bee boxes for his bee farm. He named his business EEz BEEz LLC.
-Messenger photo by Kolleen Taylor <br> Evan Ely, of Webster City, named his business EEz BEEz LLC, as pictured on the inside of one of his bee boxes.
-Messenger photo by Kolleen Taylor <br>Evan Ely and Ken Malaise work to set up some bee hives and transfer the bees. Ely started his own business earlier this year, naming it EEz BEEz LLC. Today, he is managing his own bee farm, and marketing the honey and byproducts himself.
-Messenger photo by Kolleen Taylor <br>Evan Ely holds up one of the bee trays from his bee hive. He received the 2026 Youth Beekeeping scholarship earlier this year from the Iowa Honey Producers Association.
-Messenger photo by Kolleen Taylor <br>A closeup of one of Evan Ely's bee hives is shown here.
-Messenger photo by Kolleen Taylor <br>Evan Ely, of Webster City, works to build bee boxes for his bee farm. He named his business EEz BEEz LLC.
-Messenger photo by Kolleen Taylor <br> Evan Ely, of Webster City, named his business EEz BEEz LLC, as pictured on the inside of one of his bee boxes.
-Messenger photo by Kolleen Taylor <br>Evan Ely and Ken Malaise work to set up some bee hives and transfer the bees. Ely started his own business earlier this year, naming it EEz BEEz LLC. Today, he is managing his own bee farm, and marketing the honey and byproducts himself.
-Messenger photo by Kolleen Taylor <br>Evan Ely holds up one of the bee trays from his bee hive. He received the 2026 Youth Beekeeping scholarship earlier this year from the Iowa Honey Producers Association.
-Messenger photo by Kolleen Taylor <br>A closeup of one of Evan Ely's bee hives is shown here.
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WEBSTER CITY -- When Evan Ely received the 2026 Youth Beekeeping scholarship earlier this year from the Iowa Honey Producers Association, it wasn't a one-time project for him. It was the beginning of a new hobby, and potentially a business.
"I wanted a hobby to do, to do something fun," said 13-year-old Evan Ely, a student in Webster City Community Schools. "Wasps are no fun, but bees are fun."
"He already has a vision: he formed EEz BEEz LLC, plans to manage his own bee farm, and market the honey and byproducts himself," said his father, Scott Ely. "Adding this to our family's farm, which already includes walnut trees and orchard work, ties into the broader story of how young farmers are diversifying and innovating in agriculture."
Today, he is doing just that.
Evan was notified early in the year that he had been accepted into the 2026 Iowa Honey Producers Association (IHPA) Youth Beekeeping Scholarship Program. This is a selective initiative that supports young people who want to gain hands-on experience raising bees, managing hives, and marketing honey.
Local beekeeper Ken Malaise has been helping Evan learn about taking care of bees.
"He invited me over to his house and he untapped some hives and removed the honey," said Evan. "He's my mentor for beekeeping. The scholarship lets you bring in a mentor, and we decided we would like him to be my mentor."
Malaise has invited the family to see his beekeeping operation, and he has helped him set up his hives and transfer the bees. His support and information is essential to the first years of operation.
"I'm just learning all the skills and managing the hives," said Evan. "My dad, he'll do most of the business stuff, my job is to keep them alive."
With four years of high school ahead of him, there is a lot of time to get the bees and honey business established.
The bees under Evan's care are critical to helping keep pollinators healthy, assisting with the natural infrastructure in Iowa.
The Iowa Honey Producers Association is bringing opportunities to young people who can look forward to future generations of a healthy environment created when all things are in balance.
The program is designed to support young people who want to gain hands-on experience raising bees, managing hives and marketing honey.
The Iowa Honey Producers Association is a nonprofit organization that has been active since 1912, working to bring beekeepers in Iowa together, promote good practices, and educate the public about the value of honey bees in pollination and agriculture.
Their Youth Scholarship Program is open to youth ages 13 to 16, and they must go through an application process, obtain recommendation letters and be interviewed before acceptance.
With the help of Malaise, Evan and his more than 20,000 bees and their queen are working to make another Iowa farm enterprise.