Bruce and Stacy Wilmer have been beekeepers for nearly 40 years, producing honey in Minnesota and providing crop pollination throughout Minnesota and California. Their family business, Wilmer Honey Farms has relied on H2-A workers since 2015.
Stacy Wilmer describes how essential H2-A workers are to their livelihood. “The beekeeping industry has changed as it has become a daily struggle to keep our honeybee colonies alive and healthy. We have had to learn how to manage and medicate our hives to avoid “Colony Collapse” This however takes an extreme amount of man power. The men that we employ through the H2A program provide us with the man power and beekeeping knowledge to help keep our honeybee colonies alive and healthy.”
Wilmer Honey Farms now employs 21 H2-A workers from El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Mexico, and the Philippines. In the picture here are Jolito and Aldrian from the Philippines, Martin from Mexico and Ernesto from El Salvador at Wilmer Honey Farms.
“These men have become part of our family and will always have a job with Wilmer Honey,” said Stacy, who says the entire community has helped the workers feel at home. “Our small and close knit community of Warroad welcomed these workers with open arms. In a small town everybody knows everybody and these men have represented Wilmer Honey with respect and integrity. I have locals tell me stories all the time of the H2A men they have met out at our local restaurants, grocery stores or that they have invited them to community gatherings.”
One worker at Wilmer Honey Farms, Jolito Gomez from the Philippines, shared his story with DEED.
“The H2A visa program is like a turning point in my life where my dreams to work in United States have come true. The salary that I received at Wilmer Farms I used to build apartments and two mini grocery stores back home and because of my income my family now own some real estate properties and a rice farm which also generates income.”
“The best thing of my job as a beekeeper is traveling around Minnesota, where I can visit many beautiful places,” said Jolito about his work taking bees around to pollinate crops throughout northwestern Minnesota. “I am passionate about my work and proud to say that I love bees and that I am a proud Wilmer Honey Farms beekeeper.”
The H2-A visa program has changed the lives of many agricultural employers and workers. Minnesota agricultural employers who want to learn more about this program are encouraged to visit the CareerForce Foreign Labor Unit page.
More pictures from Wilmer Honey Farms below!
