
Karen and Jim Belli have turned a curiosity into a compulsion. What began as a burgeoning interest in plants, pollination and bees has transformed into one of the nation’s most recognized and revered honey producers.
Belli Farm
HISTORY
Karen Belli, a retired Chicago Public School teacher, and her husband Jim, a Chicago architect, purchased a 45-acre dairy farm located 40 miles north of Chicago in 1989. They spent the next 12 years altering the landscape, creating a unique mix of flowering plants and trees that created an idyllic setting for bees. In 2001, they began placing beehives on their property. In 2003, their honey started winning Blue Ribbons at the Lake County Fair. They entered the Illinois State Fair in 2004 and won 2nd place competing against large, long established honey producers. In 2006, they took home three Blue Ribbons at the American Beekeeping Federation Convention in Louisville. Every year since, Belli Farm has been continually recognized and awarded for its exceptionally pure, flavorful honey.

Belli Farm
PRACTICES
Karen and Jim believe to be great honey makers, you
first need to be great stewards of the land. They
have spent over a quarter of a century modifying and
improving their farm to offer up the most diverse
and rich food supply for their bees. This includes
altering the landscape with earth movers and burning
dense areas of growth so seeds that have been in the
ground for over a century can spring to life. It also
means using only natural techniques, and they are
proud to attest that no controversial systematic
insecticides known as neonicontoids have ever
touched their land, both before they took ownership
and ever since.
This fanatical approach to land cultivation is also
applied to honey production. Whether it’s using jars
that are free of imperfections, to carefully straining
straining the honey. Karen and Jim strive for a
product that is no less than perfect, doing
everything themselves to ensure the highest quality.
The way they see it, the bees make a perfect product,
so their number one goal is to keep it that way. It’s
meticulousness you can see, in honey shades ranging
from nearly colorless to dark brown. And it’ s
obsessiveness you can taste, with unforgettable
flavors ranging from subtle to bold.

Belli Farm
AWARDS
While still a relative newcomer in honey making, Belli Farm has become one of the most awarded honeys in the nation. Awards include: over four dozen Blue Ribbons and two Grand Champion Awards at the Illinois State Fair; eight Killion Sweepstakes Trophies from the Illinois State Fair Honey Show; twenty-eight Blue Ribbons and two Best in Show Ribbons at the American Beekeeping Federation Honey Show.
Illinois State
Beekeepers Association:
BEEKEEPER OF THE YEAR
JIM & KAREN BELLI
2020
LAKE COUNTY FAIR
GRAYSLAKE, ILLINOIS
49
First Premiums (Blue ribbons)
5
Champions
MORTON ARBORETUM HONEY SHOW
LISLE, ILLINOIS
2
First Place Awards
1
Best in Show
ILLINOIS STATE FAIR
SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS
71
First Premiums (Blue ribbons)
3
Grand Champions
9
Carl and Eugene Killion Trophy
Beekeeping & Honey Open Class Sweepstakes
HEARTLAND APICULTURAL SOCIETY HONEY SHOW
ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI
2
First Place Awards
AMERICAN BEEKEEPING FEDERATION
AMERICAN HONEY SHOW
36
First Premiums
3
Best in Show
Belli honey has competed against entries from Canada, Kuwait, Mexico and U.S. at the following honey show locations:
- Louisville, KY
- Austin, TX
- Sacramento, CA
- Reno, NV
- Orlando, FL
- Galveston, TX
- Las Vegas, NV
- Hershey, PA
- Baton Rouge, LA
- Anaheim, CA
- Ponte Verde, FL
