Berad Studio

Berad Originals

TOLENTINO HONEY

Finding peace & purpose through raising honeybees.

 

HARVESTING RAW HAWAIIAN TOLENTINO HONEY: MADE FRESH IN WAIANAE, HAWAII

Home-grown, raw Hawaiian honey – it doesn’t get much better than that. On the west coast of O’ahu, Hawai’i in Lualualei valley, the Tolentino family called the University of Hawaii Honeybee Project for help after struggling to hand-pollinate their vegetable blossoms for a year. With no real experience or knowledge on raising honeybees, but a dedication to their farm, the family adopted a single hive that grew to over 250 bee hives over the years. Their apiary is now filled with thousands of honeybees, pollinating all the nearby farms in the valley.

The Tolentino honeybees forage on tropical blossoms, fruit trees, seasonal crops, and the most unique – wild kiawe. Depending on the season, their honey will vary in taste, ranging from mango, liliko’i, guava, tomato, basil, onion, lemon, lime, coconut, etc.

Supporting local businesses is extremely important to ensure the health and wealth of the local community. That’s why we were so excited to learn more about the Tolentino family – three generations of family coming together to take care of their ‘aina. We had a wonderful time with Marina Tolentino as she invited us to their bee farm and let us explore the amazingly intelligent and hardworking Tolentino honeybees.

Discover more of Tolentino Honey Co. on their website and Instagram.

ABOUT MADE FRESH

Everyone has a story to tell, but not everyone has a chance to tell that story. Made Fresh was first dreamt up by director Brad Watanabe as a result of losing his grandfather to a medical complication following a routine surgery. He never had a chance to capture the story of his pineapple growing, golf club swinging, fisherman of a grandfather before he passed away. As a result, documenting untold stories of people who might never have their stories told became a personal passion of his, and Made Fresh was born.

This is a series devoted to those who are making fresh and amazing things or doing traditional things in a fresh and innovative way. If you know any makers that need to have their story told, please email us with a brief synopsis of the fresh maker you have in mind. madefresh@beradstudio.com