Honey Grove celebrates 70 years in business

West Bend, Wi – Every business hopes to have a good run. Honey Grove Ice Cream has had a pretty sweet one. In 2026, the West Bend business, now called Honey Grove Apiaries, 2500 S. River Road, is celebrating 70 years of scooping ice cream, selling honey and becoming part of the traditions of generations of families.

It was 1956 when Margaret Ahlers and her brother-in-law, Clyde Darmody, opened Honey Grove Ice Cream at its longtime location. The little cement block shop they built was small, simple and surrounded by farmland.

Seven decades later, the building is still here. So is the family.

“We brightened it up a little,” said second generation owner Cheryl Thill about the interior of the shop. “We painted the dark wood paneling and added onto the back of the building.”

The store is like a little step back in time. There are framed photos of the business on the wall by the entrance along, two windows decorated with cozy valances, and a parade of awards including plaques and blue ribbons that hang over the doorframe.

A white wooden counter to take orders is in the center of the room and a large freezer on the right holds a variety of sweet homemade ice cream paddles.

Jars of golden honey are neatly arranged by size and flavor and each carries the Honey Grove label that features a pyramid hive with a trio of bees.

Today, the third generation is carrying the business forward with Nick Thill, who took over from his parents, Cheryl and Don Thill.

For Nick, Honey Grove is more than a business. It is a family story he has been part of since childhood.

“I’ve been coming out here since I was a little kid, getting to watch my grandpa, Clyde Darmody, make ice cream and helping my great Aunt Margaret,” said Nick.

It was October 1945 when Clyde came home from service. He was in the Army and stationed on the Fiji Islands in the South Pacific. By December he married the gal he had been corresponding with, Mildred Ahlers. The couple lived in the big brick home across from the current store on what was then Rural Route 5. They owned 80 acres, and the barn, which is currently PMF Landscaping.

The land was filled with trees and fields and surrounded by other farms including Schroeder, Schloemer, and Muth.

Nick’s childhood connection eventually turned into a lifelong passion for beekeeping.

When Nick was 12, Margaret needed some help. The following year, she gave him six bee colonies.

Thirty-plus years later, Nick, who took over the business in 2013, has hundreds of colonies spread throughout southeast Wisconsin.

“I just really love doing the job,” he said. “It’s great to get to be outside with nature.”

The Honey Grove story began long before the first ice cream cone was served.

Margaret grew up on the Ahlers family farm in the Town of Trenton. Her father raised Red Poll cattle, a breed known for its auburn color and dual-purpose beef and dairy qualities.

Margaret started working with bees when she was just 9 years old. An older beekeeper from Germantown, Alvin Kalpecke, became a mentor and friend to the young beekeeper.

“He was just a nice, friendly guy,” Cheryl recalled.

Don and Cheryl Thill won the Wisconsin Honey Producers Pioneer Award in 2025.

Click HERE to read more.

Margaret eventually built a small honey house on the family property. The old structures and surrounding land became the backdrop for a family business that would outlast nearly everything around it.

Margaret died in 2014 at age 85. Her obituary noted she had won numerous honey awards and was known by many as the “Honey Lady.” She received Wisconsin Beekeeper of the Year honors and helped many others get started in beekeeping.

Her influence continues through the family.

Nick still uses some of Margaret’s old equipment, including several smokers, and he carries on her Honey Grove Apiaries label.

In the early years, Honey Grove wasn’t just a place to stop for ice cream.

The family took the business on the road, selling ice cream, hamburgers and hot dogs at auctions and community events. “We had about 23 auctions a year,” said Cheryl with Auctioneers like Art Quade, Rollie Bast, Jim Paul and Bill Horn Jr.

Cheryl remembered going to auctions as a child and working alongside her family.

”We had to go almost every weekend. Sell hamburgers or fry them or whatever. 
Margaret didn’t like selling, so I always got stuck in the front and she did the frying, and I did the selling, and my grandpa and grandma, they helped.”

Her father eventually outfitted a pickup truck with a cap to haul everything needed for the events.

That worked well until the family added coffee.

One weekend, Cheryl, then in sixth grade, was riding along with a large pot of coffee when her father turned into a driveway on an incline.

“The coffee pot went all over me,” she said.

The hot coffee burned her legs badly enough that she needed medical treatment and regular dressing changes for several weeks.

It was an unpleasant lesson in mobile food service.

The family adapted, eventually changing how the coffee was transported.

That was one of many lessons learned along the way.

Honey Grove also became a familiar sight at fairs and community celebrations, including the Washington County Fair, Wisconsin State Fair, Slinger Fair, Cedarburg events and Fourth of July celebrations at Regner Park.

At one time, an ice cream paddle bar cost just 15 cents.

The business has remained rooted in the community even as the road outside the front door has changed.

Cheryl remembers when the road was known as Highway G and later changed names and designations. For Nick, the difference is even more striking.

“Just getting to hear all the old stories of how she grew up,” he said. “I look at how much this area has changed.”

Customers have their own memories.

Some older customers still walk through the door and tell Nick they remember coming to Honey Grove after church on Sundays for an ice cream treat.

Those stories are part of what makes 70 years meaningful.

“I think it’s kind of a labor of love,” Nick said.

Running a business for seven decades hasn’t always been smooth sailing.

The family has weathered storms, power outages, changing roads, changing technology and plenty of unpredictable seasons.

The bees have their own set of challenges.

Cheryl said 2025 was particularly difficult. The bees produced very little honey, with weather and smoke from Canada wildfires affecting their ability to bring in nectar.

Then came 2026. “This year has been great,” she said.

Nick spreads his colonies throughout southeast Wisconsin, including areas near orchards and vegetable farms. The strategy provides different varieties of honey and also protects against putting all the colonies in one location.

“If we get rain in one area, it might not be raining in another area,” Nick explained. “Some areas might produce better than others. So it’s kind of like, don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”

Nick won Wisconsin Honey Producers Association Beekeeper of the Year in 2016.

Click HERE to read more.

The bees are also important beyond the honey jars.

Their pollination helps area orchards, vegetable growers and other crops produce the food people enjoy.

Nick said one of the things he finds fascinating is how the bees work together.

“Nothing ever goes to waste,” he said. “Every little piece of space” in the hive has a purpose.

The work isn’t always easy. On a 95-degree day, pulling honey can make an air-conditioned building sound pretty appealing.

“But I love it,” Nick said. “It’s great.”

Nick never felt pressured to take over the family business.

He simply kept showing up.

Today, Honey Grove is still a small, family-owned operation. The ice cream season has its limits, with the shop generally closing in mid-December and reopening in the spring. The honey business continues year-round, with customers bringing in their own jars to be filled.

The family has also collected plenty of awards over the years, including Wisconsin State Fair honors, national recognition and beekeeper awards. But the biggest reward may be the customers who keep coming back.

After 70 years, Honey Grove is a local landmark, with a history as rich as its honey and a family story that keeps getting passed down.