Champlain Valley Honey is a New England Leopold Award finalist
Champlain Valley Honey in Middlebury, VT, and its 31-year-old president, Curtis Mraz, a fourth-generation commercial beekeeper and farmer, are one of the three finalists selected for the 2026 New England Leopold Conservation Award.
The award honors farmers and forestland owners that manage their soil health, water resources and wildlife habitat on “working” land.
“My life’s work is in conserving our native and managed pollinators while communicating their signals of distress to the general public through a variety of community engagements and educational efforts,” Mraz recently wrote. He graduated from the University of Puget Sound, majoring in biology and environmental policy.
Champlain Valley Honey has 30 apiaries with about 1,000 colonies of honeybees spread across Vermont’s Champlain Valley, mostly on leased property, from Rutland north to the Canadian border. Mraz regularly engages face-to-face with dairy and vegetable farmers, landowners and lawmakers about the importance of pollinator health and conservation.
He’s now in the process of building a new two-story steel-frame processing, retail and educational facility in New Haven, VT, on the former Choquette Farm across from the Addison County Fairgrounds.
“For nearly a century, we have made pollinator health and conservation top priorities at Champlain Valley Apiaries. In the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s my great-grandfather (Charles Mraz, a Czech immigrant who moved from Queens, NY, to Middlebury) convinced much of the local agricultural community to reduce its reliance on chemicals because he could see how it was affecting the bees,” Mraz explained. “Now that we live in a world in which almost 100% of our field corn and some 60% of soy is planted with insecticides, these principles have become more important than ever. As my grandfather, Bill Mraz, would say, ‘You don’t have to explain the importance of a pollinator to a dairy farmer.’”
Mraz is very concerned about the future of his family’s livelihood. “We are facing unprecedented honeybee colony losses,” he lamented. “This is true globally, nationally and locally. Over the last few decades, the toxicity of our soils has increased tenfold, leaving behind notably less beneficial insects. For over 90 years at Champlain Valley Apiaries, we have developed a cold hardy, hygienic, heavy honey-producing bee that is well-adapted to our specific Vermont environment. With the onset of this latest insect apocalypse, we have been losing somewhere between 50% and 70% of our colonies each year to pesticide exposure and subsequent pest pressures. In turn, we are losing those genetic adaptations we have worked so hard to build.
“I have no interest in shaming dairy farmers or putting the blame on row croppers,” he continued. “I do, however, have the patience, respect, curiosity and concern to shake hands, share a cup of coffee and ask what on Earth they would do if 50% to 70% of their cows were dead on the dairy barn floor one morning.”
The more Champlain Valley Honey has investigated what’s happening with the bees, the more beekeepers have realized that the honeybee die-off is pesticide-related, especially due to neonicotinoids. Mraz became very politically engaged in 2024. “I’ve been engaged with other issues, but this is one about which I’m particularly passionate,” he said.
Vermont is one of two states that has banned the use of neonicotinoid seed coatings. New York is the other. Fortunately, Mraz pointed out, the Empire State will provide a big enough market to attract seed companies to meet demand along with its Green Mountain neighbor. By overriding Gov. Phil Scott’s veto, Vermont legislators enacted H. 706 (Act 182) on June 17, 2024. It goes into effect in two phases. The first, on July 1, 2025, prohibited outdoor uses of neonicotinoids harmful to pollinators, including applications on ornamental plants, lawns and gardens. The second, in effect Jan. 1, 2029, prohibits the use of field crop seeds (such as corn, soy and cereal grains) treated with neonicotinoids.
“Early in 2025 we hired a full-time social media manager,” Mraz explained, noting he’s now the majority owner of the family firm that includes his uncle, Chas Mraz. “Across platforms, we have over 10,000 followers. I have worked closely with her to create a video series about bees and how to help pollinators, including a series on Vermont banning neonics.”
Mraz is also very pleased with another innovation: Incorporating unique QR codes for each individual beehive plus the roll-out of a bee management app that allows for digitally tracking management practices, hive health and productivity. “Nectar Technologies, the Montreal-based company behind the app, is not only selling management software but also offering a way for us to dig deeper into the ‘why’ behind this massive bee colony loss,” Mraz explained.
The award they’re in the running for, named in honor of renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, recognizes landowners who inspire others with their dedication to environmental improvement.
The three finalists vying for the prestigious $10,000 award are Appalachian Mountain Club’s Maine Woods Initiative; Champlain Valley Honey; and the organic Corse Farm Dairy of Whitingham, VT. Forestland and farmland owners in all six New England states are encouraged to apply or be nominated for the award. An independent panel of New England agricultural, forestry and conservation leaders evaluated the applications, and the recipient will be announced this autumn.
Sand County Foundation’s Leopold Conservation Award in New England is made possible through the support of American Farmland Trust, New England Forestry Foundation, Farm Credit East, David and Ann Ingram, LandVest, the University of Vermont’s College of Agriculture & Life Sciences and the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board.
by Edith Tucker
