When severe weather made its way through the Charlotte area last week, several neighborhoods saw significant damage as intense pockets of storms — and several confirmed tornados — ripped through them. Downtown Matthews was one of those areas, with an EF-1 tornado leaving much of the town without power.

Renfrow Farms, located just blocks from the heart of Matthews, was among the properties that suffered significant damage. Nearly all of the farm’s 50 beehives were toppled in the wind, with several looking as though they had been shredded. Only eight of the hives remained standing.

The beehives are maintained by an independent beekeeper, John Caudle. After the storm passed, Caudle came out to reassemble the hives as much as possible and see if there were any signs of life inside of them, according to owner Pressly Williams. Williams says they saw some activity and are hopeful that a dozen of the hives will rebound.

Parts of the beehives were found strewn throughout the woods behind the them, where mature trees were snapped in half by the tornado. Williams says there are somewhere between 30 and 50 trees that they will need to bring in professionals to remove. Farm staff and friends have already taken down the trees that fell on driveways, buildings, and fences. Between repairing the fences and removing fallen trees, Williams believes repairs could take six months or longer.

“We are so thankful none of our structures or tractors or other farm equipment were damaged, because that would mean a very different story,” she says.

Aside from producing honey, Renfrow Farms supplies many local restaurants with produce and florals. Williams says there was no tornado damage to crops, other than the flooding it caused. You can purchase Renfrow Farms’ honey at Renfrow Hardware. —Kristen Wile

Unpretentious People Say...

Other Articles You Might Enjoy