Big Island Bees

Like many beekeepers, ours is a multi-generational family business — Garnett Puett is the fourth generation of his family to make beekeeping his livelihood. The experience and guidance gleaned from prior generations has been an important part of Garnett’s knowledge about bees and the important relationship between the environment and the bees’ well being.

However, we think we are unique among beekeeping families for our appreciation and display of the bees’ artistic majesty, in large part thanks to the artistic training Garnett and Whendi received while earning Fine Arts degrees from Pratt Institute and Fashion Institute of Technology, respectively.

This artistry is most pronounced in Garnett’s apisculptures, a close collaboration between Garnett and the bees in creating beeswax sculptures which have been exhibited around the world, including New York’s Guggenheim Museum, and which are included in such collections as the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

Whendi ensures our packaging is reflective of the beauty of the bees’ hives and the local environment in which they thrive.

In 1971, our family started keeping bees in Hawaii. While maintaining our artisanal standards, the apiaries have grown from just a few hives in the early ‘70s, to 3,800 hives and 190,000,000 bees today. Our mission is simple: Provide the finest single-floral, artisanal honey anywhere!