McPhee’s Bees is raw Hawaiian honey from bees free to forage on the flora of the mountains and jungles of Kauaʻi. 60 bee colonies and apiaries across the island are all left treatment-free and with enough honey to for the colony to utilize. Both their Anahola and Moloaʻa Raw Honey have unique palates and are left unpasteurized and unprocessed for maximum health benefits of consumer and hive alike.
Support your Local Beekeeper
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It is very simple: without enough bees there is not enough food.
As much as 80% of fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains require some form of pollination in order to produce, and much of that pollination comes directly or indirectly from honeybees. With bee death on the rise due to loss of habitat, lack of crop diversity, pesticides and climate change, the bottom line is clear: if we don’t start protecting our bumbling, buzzing friends, the result will be an agricultural apocalypse.
With big problems come (attempted) big solutions. In 2018 Walmart filed a patent for an insect-sized drone capable of artificial pollination—yes, robotic bees. But currently, these artificial pollinators are not nearly as efficient as the real deal. They’re also not likely to be economical, they would damage wider ecosystems, and would significantly erode biodiversity values. Relying on robotic bees could lead to devastating food insecurity.
So, if it’s not possible to buy a solution to bee endangerment, could it be rented? Commercial pollination services, or “rented” bees, are a big business. Honeybees are delivered by truckload—sometimes thousands, or hundreds of thousands—to provide traveling pollination for agriculture. But, the stress of transportation affects the bees’ chances of survival and pollination ability. It is also not a viable answer.
Perhaps real support for honeybee populations can be made on a small scale. Supporting local beekeepers and buying local raw honey bolsters the business of keeping bees around and healthy.
There are also great health benefits of raw honey. Phytonutrients are responsible for the antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-fungal and immune-boosting properties of honey which can all be destroyed by heavy processing. Raw honey is not pasteurized or filtered, it is essentially honey straight from the beehive.
Sourced from hives across Kauaʻi, My Kauaʻi Honey wellness products are made with organic propolis, used since ancient civilizations for its medicinal properties. Thought to have antibacterial, antiviral, anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory qualities, the Bee.U.Tea Balm, Bee.Itch.Soother Soothing Cream, and Bee Pollen Propolis Healing Tincture all contain isle-sourced propolis as their first ingredient.
McPhee’s Bees and My Kauaʻi Honey are contributing to healthy bee populations just by maintaining their hives. Their bees pollinate food crops and wild plants across Kauaʻi and advance a small-scale solution to a very large problem.
by Rebecca Remillard
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