Richard Spiegel, Owner of Volcano Island Honey Co, just got back from a trip to the East Coast to visit family, friends, and bees. He went to Vermont and stopped in for a visit with Ross Conrad, Owner of Dancing Bee Gardens and author of Natural Beekeeping, which has been a source of inspiration for beekeepers at Volcano Island Honey for years.

Richard found that he and Ross share a similar philosophy when it comes to beekeeping and the role of bees on the earth. Volcano Island Honey produces an organic, artisan honey that requires a high degree of attunement with the cycles of the bees. In order to maintain a close relationship with the bees Richard has kept the business intentionally small, managing between 130-150 hives. Most commercial beekeepers manage thousands of hives. Speaking to the organic approach in Natural Beekeeping, Ross Conrad says, “This emphasis on quality over quantity is perhaps the defining notion of the organic agricultural movement.”

A focus on quality over quantity has made Volcano Island Honey the company that it is. VIHC always leaves enough honey for the bees, so that the hive can maintain itself in the way that nature intended. Many large commercial apiaries take all of the honey from the bees and then feed the bees sugar- not their natural food! VIHC also uses “bee escapes” as a less invasive and non-violent way to vacate bees from the hive before harvesting. This is more labor intensive, but it is more gentle to the bees and does not kill bees. VIHC respects the bees as intelligent beings and teachers, instead of as a tool for making honey and money. We also make our own wax foundation, using our own beeswax to avoid beeswax from other sources that may be contaminated by toxins & chemicals.

Richard sees the bees as teachers- even after working closely with the bees for over 30 years he continues to learn lessons from the bees. Bees teach us many things about cooperative society and environmental sustainability. Beekeeping is an agricultural endeavor that has a positive environmental footprint. The bees give back and make the environment in which they live a better place. Not only do they share their incredible gifts of honey and wax, but they also help pollinate the area and increase the agricultural output of the trees and plants. Quoting Ross from Natural Beekeeping, “The honey bee inspires me to work into my daily life this lesson: That we should give something back and improve upon things, thus making the world a better place.” VIHC strives to make the world a better place through conscious management of every aspect of the business. However, even with all of this striving, it is very hard to create a positive environmental impact while running a business. The activities of the bees are an environmental plus, but the impact of the human activities of packaging and shipping are hard to avoid and hard to mitigate. “It is easy to talk about being a sustainable business, but it is very hard to live these things, try as we might,” says Richard Spiegel.

Bees are truly one of the natural wonders of the world- they make honey and wax- two things that humans have found very useful for thousands of years. Humans have figured out how to make wax from petroleum (yuck! beeswax candles are superior in every way!) but not to make honey. “Honey is something so precious and special; even with our highly developed technological sciences, we humans still have not been able to duplicate the efforts of the simple honey bee and create the same substance from what amounts to nothing more than sugar and water,” says Conrad in Natural Beekeeping. VIHC believes in using the honey as close to its natural state as possible and keeps the honey raw. Just like Volcano Island Honey, Dancing Bee Gardens also produces organic, raw honey.

So who’s smarter- Man or Bee? Well…you decide!

Watch this video of Ross Conrad speaking about his discovery of beekeeping and his all-natural methods for maintaining a healthy and thriving bee population.

Volcano Island Honey Co. (VIHC) was recognized for its ongoing commitment to social and environmental principles in business as the winner of this year’s Kuleana Award. The Kuleana Award is presented each year at the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce Kuleana Green Business & Environment Conference. VIHC is a member of Green America and the Kuleana Green Business Program- both programs which screen businesses for social and environmental practices.

A Leader in Triple Bottom Line Businesses on the Big Island and the State of Hawaii
Richard Spiegel started Volcano Island Honey Company as a hobby in the late 1970’s and formalized the business around 1993. Before anyone on the Big Island even heard of “triple bottom line” business, Richard was doing it. I think it can safely be said that Volcano Island Honey Company is the original “triple bottom line” business of the Big Island, and maybe even in the state. Even though VIHC is a small company, from the beginning Richard was passionate about caring for employees and the community, making as little environmental impact as possible, improving the environment whenever possible, making a profit, and sharing the profits with employees and the community through non-profit donations. He has codified these practices into the business and calls Volcano Island Honey Co. a business with an “Uncommon Philosophy.” Read more about the specific environmental and socially responsible practices of Volcano Island Honey Co.


An Environmental Advocate
Richard has taken a leading role in the beekeeping industry to advocate for safe and non-toxic treatment of varroa mites. The general trend is to use toxic chemicals in hives, which the mites eventually develop resistance to. This is bad for bees, people, environment and the agricultural industry that relies on bees. He could care just about his own business, but he has spent many precious hours fighting for all the bees, the environment, and our agriculture industry. Richard has also worked for years to preserve the Puako Kiawe forest instead of having it developed into a golf course. The Puako Kiawe forest, located on the South Kohala coast on the Big Island, is one of the largest contiguous kiawe forests in the state, is a major forage habitat for bees, and a potential source of firewood, and other value-added products. VIHC, in partnership with Neil Logan, has developed a conservation and sustainable management proposal for the forest with the intention of identifying a philanthropic investor who can take advantage of the tax benefits of a conservation purchase.


Most people think of kiawe as a junk tree, but VIHC knows better. VIHC has invested over ten thousand dollars into the study of the community economic and environmental benefit of kiawe. Did you know that the bean makes a high protein flour? It is a delicious cooking flour and could help contribute to island food self-sufficiency!


Posted by Andrea Dean.