About Native Bee-Ginnings

Our Philosophy

Increasing the diversity of flowering native plants to support the food supply of honey bees, native bees, butterflies, and other insects throughout the growing season, along with growing species that offer an ideal habitat, serves as a sustainable and ecologically responsible business model for future growth and success. We are neonicotinoids-free.

This is our story

Native Bee-Ginnings is a native seed production company owned and operated by Glenn Kenny. Glenn has been involved in agriculture his entire life. He earned a degree in Agriculture from Penn State and has since spent years in the Agribusiness world, including working twelve years at a native seed company where he became a certified crop advisor, expanding his knowledge even more into the agricultural field. Realizing the limitations of growth in his position and feeling the need for personal development, the move to entrepreneurship was the next logical step.

Glenn, his wife, and sons do the majority of the labor, from hand planting the thousands of transplants to hand harvesting in the fall. They are currently working on growth logistics to supply more species while maintaining the same quality. The majority of production is located in Ashtabula County, Ohio, with seeds sourced from Ohio.

Renee Grout

Renee grew up involved in agriculture her entire life. After high school, she continued her education at Penn State and graduated in 2004 with an Animal Science degree. She moved to Vermont for a herdsman position at Vermont Technical College. She moved back to Pennsylvania to be closer to family, where she began to work at a local native seed company and really enjoyed this side of agriculture.

She continued to work there until her family grew to the point where she needed to stay home with the kids and run their family farm. As the kids grew older and went to school, she worked a couple of different jobs that worked with the kids' schedules, which is how she got started with Glenn at Native Bee-Ginnings!