Since 1982, Lito and Dory Tolentino have been cultivating vegetables on 10 acres in the secluded Lualualei Valley in Waianae, but in 2008, the honeybees almost stopped buzzing.
The population of feral bees, nature’s pollinators, had been drastically reduced statewide by an infestation of deadly mites.
Lito Tolentino noticed his Chinese squash was most diminished by the decline, so he took on the task of pollinating his crop by hand at 4 a.m. every day, rubbing the male flowers onto the female blossoms — “He was our bee!” his wife said.
After three years, Lito had his fill of doing the bees’ busy work and turned to the University of Hawaii agricultural extension service for help.
Researchers brought them one hive, some equipment and taught them how to care for the bees, Dory said. She loved watching their constant coming and going, and thought of the bees as “my babies,” despite the stings.
That first hive multiplied, and by 2016, when her son Ryan and his wife, Marina, moved back to Hawaii, Dory had 250 hives. Though the bees were crucial to the crops, maintaining so many was an expensive hobby.
It was Marina who suggested selling the bees’ honey — Dory had been giving away the sweet golden syrup to friends and family, and enjoying it in her morning coffee. “This was really good honey, and it tasted better than anybody else’s,” Marina said.
She and Ryan formed the Tolentino Honey Co. in 2017, and pared down the hives to a more manageable 125. Since Dory and Lito had never intended to go into the honey business, “it came from heaven,” Dory said.
Farms on parade
The public can taste Tolentino honey and watch the bees at work Saturday during the fourth annual Parade of Farms, which will include tours to four other farms. The event focuses on Waianae this year, and includes a community fair at Kahumana Organic Farm.
Stephanie Mock, program manager of the Oahu Resource Conservation and Development Council, the event’s sponsor, said Parade of Farms demonstrates the value of local agriculture and the work that goes into “making this beautiful (food) we all enjoy.”
The Tolentinos are a “model farm family,” she said, as they’ve made eco-friendly improvements to their farm with funds from the nonprofit conservation group, and diversified by adding honey production.
Ryan said his parents’ main crop is taro, which replaced eggplant about 10 years ago. He and Marina run the beekeeping business as well as Roam Rentals, a specialty event rental company, and raise their son Roman, who is 4. Marina also works as a wedding planner.
Their first year back, Marina learned beekeeping from her mother-in-law and two mentors, while Ryan helped on the farm while working full time as a special agent for the national Background Investigations Bureau on Oahu. In 2017, Marina and his mom were so overwhelmed with honey production, Ryan quit his job to devote more time to that part of the business. “We were harvesting tons,” Marina added, “there was so much demand. It’s not like we advertised it, it was just Instagram, really.”
In just one short year they were selling honey at farmers markets and to restaurant chefs, who were instrumental in spreading the word. They also sold online through farmlinkhawaii.com, which connects local farmers to niche markets, and delivers their products.
Raw and natural
Last year the Tolentinos harvested about 5,000 pounds of honey.
“We are known for our kiawe honey because most people aren’t used to seeing light yellow colored honey,” Ryan said. “They usually just see the darker golden color. All the honey we harvest comes from our family farm; we don’t import and rebottle honey from other locations.”
The light honey originates in the kiawe forest of Waianae, where the bees feed during spring and summer. A darker honey is produced from the blossoms of everything that blooms in the fall and winter, such as mango and citrus trees, and Christmas berries. The honey varies in color seasonally, and is not differentiated as dark or light, but shoppers can specify a preference.
Marina said they pride themselves on keeping their honey raw and natural. People have often commented that their honey tastes different and better, which Ryan attributes to straining the honey only twice, using a coarse filter to keep as much pollen in as possible for optimum nutrition.
They also don’t heat their honey above 95 degrees, which many other producers do to keep it liquid. Doing so, Marina said, kills enzymes and other beneficial elements. They only warm their honey when a customer requests it liquified, using electric “bee blankets” wrapped around storage buckets.
However, raw honey crystallizes, or hardens, faster “so it looks kinda funky in the jar,” and some customers may think the honey is spoiled. That’s why Marina does a lot of educating about crystallization at farmers markets. When she gives people a taste of what she calls “honey frosting,” they love the crunch. “People just go gaga over it.”
The chefs who buy their honey use it in everything from cocktails to desserts to salmon glazes, she added.
Marina focuses on packaging, merchandising and marketing of the honey, while Ryan does most of the hive maintenance and harvesting.
The bees are so used to him he can forgo the usual beekeeping suit and handle the honeycombs without gloves. If he does get stung, he’s immune to the venom — normal for seasoned beekeepers.
“It’s fascinating working with bees, seeing what they do and learning something new,” Ryan added. It’s a curiosity shared by his little boy.
Although the work is never- ending, the couple loves the therapeutic value of being outdoors, and raising their son as the third Tolentino Farms generation.
“We realize how rare it is to have land and the opportunity to just be with nature,” Marina said.
Ryan said, “I feel like the honeybees brought me back to my roots on the farm, and to raise my son similar to how I grew up is very special. With all the technology surrounding us today, it’s so awesome to see him have fun playing on the farm and getting dirty. I definitely get deja vu and feel like I’m reliving my childhood through Roman — I’ll see him driving the tractor on my dad’s lap or see him helping my mom harvest vegetables.”
2019 PARADE OF FARMS
A free community fair includes local food products, keiki activities and lunch:
>> When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday
>> Where: Kahumana Organic Farm & Cafe, 86-660 Lualualei Homestead Road, Waianae
>> Parking: Free at Leihoku Elementary School, with shuttle service to Kahumana farm. No parking at the farm.
>> Call: 622-9026
FARM TOURS
Tickets are $20, $10 for ages 5 to 17, younger children free; available at 808ne.ws/farmtickets. Includes transportation from Kahumana farm.
>> 10:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.: Kahumana Organic Farm
>> 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Ma’o Organic Farms
>> 12:30 to 3:30 p.m.: Ka’ala Farm, restored Hawaiian agricultural site
>> 1 to 3:15 p.m.: “The ABC’s of Farming: Aquaponics, Bees & Crops,” at Tolentino and Ili’ili farms
>> 2 to 4:30 p.m.: “Fields of Flavor,” includes harvesting of produce to be used in a meal, Kahumana Organic Farm (cost is $30; adults only)
Tolentino Honey Co., 86-339 Kuwale Road, tolentinohoneyco.com.
