Our Story began in the fall of 1978 when Linda Hicken and Charleen Carroll were looking for a way to supplement their family income. They met a beekeeper from Washington who encouraged them to become bee brokers and offered to mentor them. He needed a trustworthy broker in this area that he could depend on. They began by working with his bees, writing contracts and building relationships. When the girls approached a bank to secure a start-up business loan they were turned down, but finally found a bank who took a chance on them. The girls repaid their loan with their first years’ earnings and never had to borrow again.
Back in the 70’s it was difficult to get almond growers to take them seriously and growers would demand to speak with the man of the house. After many hang-ups, they eventually were successful in getting a handful of almond growers to believe in them and they haven’t looked back. Charleen & Linda have forged great working relationships with wonderful people, from both the beekeeping industry and the almond grower community. They value their long-time clients and thank them for their loyalty over these many years. The girls always look forward to helping new customers, especially in Feb. when a desperate grower calls who just found out his beekeeper is no longer in business or an anxious beekeeper who needs to rent his surplus of bees. Being able to help the grower and beekeeper at this critical time, not only brings them satisfaction but gives them the inspiration to continue with a sometimes stressful business.
In 2011, Paula “Carroll” Juarez (Charleen’s daughter) who grew up in the business joined the company. Linda retired in 2015, and Paula began managing Linda’s accounts and because of the relationships Linda had established over the years, it was a smooth transition. We wish Linda all the happiness she deserves in her retirement years.
In 2017, Lisa “Hicken” Catalano (Linda’s granddaughter) joined the company. Lisa has also grown up in the business and we are very excited to have her on the team.
POLLINATION CONTRACTING, INC. offers reliable, honest service in central California and we look forward to hearing from you.