About Us

The Holland Area Beekeepers Association (HABA) began in the 1950's as an opportunity for local beekeepers to meet and share ideas. We strive to carry on their endeavor as we continue to meet and share resources to educate and encourage all those who love the honeybee. HABA’s mission is to:

Encourage and embolden beekeepers and help to establish first-time beekeepers in the success of their efforts.

Promote community among local members and beekeepers universally.

Afford a forum for the exchange of ideas, guidance and mutual support in the keeping of Apis mellifara, the honey bee.

Assist in the education of the community relating to apiculture, its benefits, and necessity.

Become a resource for materials, equipment, knowledge, marketing, and local patronage of beekeeping products.

Sarah Lamphere

PRESIDENT 2026-2027
My fascination with bees started way back when I was 5, and thought it was perfectly reasonable to catch bees and carry them around in my pockets. Luckily, my beekeeping methods have improved since then with the support of two wonderful mentors and the HABA community. I’m entering my fourth year of beekeeping and am excited to work with the passionate beekeepers in our club to strengthen connections, share knowledge, and continue learning together.
Lee Bosko

VICE PRESIDENT 2023-2024; 2025-2026
It started with a friend telling me I should do bees. About 3 years later I started in 2019 with bee school. That spring I picked up my box of bees and all the equipment I needed to make it happen. By August of that year my bees had swarmed away. Next year they made it through the summer, and I got just a little bit of honey.
Successfully overwintering a hive has been a challenge, but I keep trying different things. That is what makes beekeeping so much fun…there is not just one way to do things. It's just like being a farmer in town, you must take care of your animals.
I have worked for 33 years in the financial service industry.
Darlene Dreyer

TREASURER 2023-2024; 2025-2026
Darlene has been actively supporting her son Alan and granddaughter in their beekeeping pursuits for the last five years. She has over 50 years of experience in accounting and is currently volunteering as treasurer for her church. She enjoys serving HABA as its treasurer!
Kelsey Weener

SECRETARY 2026-2027
After finding HABA online and attending a meeting in early 2024, I was invited to join the mentor program. This was such an incredible experience! Fueled by curiosity and a love for nature, I am entering my third season of beekeeping. I am amazed how beekeeping has made each flower, weed, tree, clover feel even more part of the whole. My original hive, the Mellow Yellows, paved the way for my giddy learnings. I'm grateful for the awesome people who make up HABA and all the tending that is to come.
Shelly Arnold

MEMBER AT LARGE 2024, 2025, 2026
CO-eNEWS EDITOR / WEBMASTER 2021-present
Shelly helps her husband, Rick – a five-generation beekeeper, with their Holland Heritage Bee Co. After years of diving for cover at anything that buzzed, her beekeeping origin story took a plot twist at a spring gathering hosted by the Michigan Beekeepers Association, where falling head-first into honeybee facts turned fear into fascination—and eventually, full-blown bee nerd status.
Shelly is mostly retired, sprinkling in part-time work in higher education just for fun. She loves building community through a few favorite organizations—including HABA, where she served as secretary (2021–2023), launched the HABA Bonfire Store, and will work with a new board member on the club newsletter and website until a new person is ready to assume the role on their own.
She’s in her element while traveling to new places, digging into genealogy rabbit holes, or making sweet memories with her three kids, five grandkids, and a hive-sized admiration for honeybees.
Angie Commons

MEMBER AT LARGE 2024, 2025, 2026
Alan Dreyer

MEMBER AT LARGE 2024, 2025, 2026
After the family garden, after many years of not having one, failed in the Fall of 2018, we began trying to figure out what was different this time from years past. When it was pointed out that we used to have a neighbor who was a beekeeper and had several hives in his backyard, the lights went on. I spent that winter researching all I could on beekeeping, and stumbled upon the HABA Bee School, Spring of 2019. I purchased a package of bees and a hive and was off to the races. I currently have a small apiary on the family property in Wayland, that I manage with my eldest daughter.
Rich Dykstra

MEMBER AT LARGE 2024, 2025, 2026
MENOTR PROGRAM COORDINATOR
Since retiring from a career in real property assessing and real estate appraising, I have been establishing our 1 1⁄2 acre homestead. My wife Lorrie and I raise vegetables & fruit trees in a large garden area, plus we have small flowering prairies that support pollinating insects.
Three years ago I added honey bees as another hobby. The first year I didn’t actually have any bees. I dedicated myself to classes (on-line and in person), mentored under another beekeeper and did extensive reading in order to educate myself as much as I could prior to actually getting any “livestock.” I also participated in the 50 hour HERO’S TO HIVES classes sponsored by MSU Extension (and taught by Adam Ingrao) and took the MSU Pollinator Champions course.
I currently have 3 hives. Every time I open a hive I learn something new!
Liz Jasperse

MEMBER AT LARGE 2026
CO-eNEWS EDITOR / WEBMASTER 2026
Steve Petroelje

MEMBER AT LARGE 2026
Steve grew up on a farm outside of Zeeland and has been a home gardener for over 25 years. A friend introduced him to beekeeping in 2023, and since then he has enjoyed raising bees, harvesting honey, listening to beekeeping podcasts, connecting with other beekeepers, and continually learning. Participation in HABA monthly meetings, field day events, and the annual bee school has further deepened his understanding of beekeeping.
Steve Petroelje has served as a pastor since 1999 and, for the past eight years, has worked specifically as a specialized transition pastor to vacant churches.
Kurt Potter

MEMBER AT LARGE 2025, 2026