June, 2024 - Horizon Guest House

Big Island Bees is a family-owned and operated business. The store and museum is open to the public (including tours) and is a great opportunity to find out how honey is produced, and made into a variety of different products.

Big Island Bees is located just south of Captain Cook on the way down to Kealakekua Bay and has been operating since 1972.

The honey comes directly from the hives on the property and the hives are cared for without any kind of artificial feeds or chemicals. They produce two varieties of honey which are certified-organic (Lehua and Wilelaiki).

You can visit the store and museum and enjoy free tastings, or take a tour (there are two tours a day, at 10am and 1pm – the tour lasts about an hour and costs $30 per adult).

Each jar contains raw, unfiltered honey. They produce three different single-floral varietals. Each of these varieties comes from one source of nectar that the bees visit at different locations on the island at different times of year. The variation in each source of nectar gives the honey its distinct flavor.

The different types of honey include Lehua (from the Lehua blossoms on the ‘Ohi’a tree), macadamia nut (from the blossoms on macadamia nut trees) and Wilelaiki (from the blossoms of the Christmasberry trees) – all of which grow here on the island.

Other products containing honey include soap, balms, and even honey-flavored coffee.

The museum has a variety of beekeeping artifacts. If you take the tour you will get up close to the bees by experiencing an open beehive demonstration.

Even if you aren’t interested in the tour the store and museum make for an interesting stop on the way down to Two Steps or Kealakekua Bay.

When and where?

Big Island Bees

Store and Museum – open Monday to Friday 10am – 3pm.

Beekeeping Tours

Monday to Friday, 10am & 1pm

82-1140 Meli Road, Suite 102
Captain Cook, HI 96704

Don’t use GPS to get there, follow the instructions below:

Take Napoopoo Road off Highway 11, immediately south of mile marker 111. Continue on Napoopoo Road for approximately 4.5 miles. Turn right at the stop sign to continue on Napoopoo Road. Turn right at Big Island Bees sign immediately past Hawaiian Host Macadamia Factory and Kealakekua Estates (Meli Road). Follow winding lane 2/10 mile and turn right at our gate, where you will find a parking lot in the front.

Author: Angus Meek

The H.N. Greenwell Store was an important focal point of the Kona community in the late nineteenth century. The store museum provides a fascinating glimpse into what life was like in 1890s Hawai’i and is well-worth a visit.

The Kona Historical Society runs the H.N. Greenwell Store Museum which is located right beside Greenwell Farms. The store was originally built in 1870 and sold a variety of goods including fish, soap, leather, farming supplies, coffee beans and fruit. The store also served as the local post office, pharmacy, bank and general meeting place for those in the relatively isolated South Kona district.

The Greenwell Homestead

Beside the store was the Greenwell Homestead. Henry Nicholas Greenwell built the two-story home in 1850. Greenwell arrived in Hawaii in 1850 where he bought land in Kalukalu. He grew coffee, sold hides of goat and cattle, and produced butter which was shipped to the mainland. Today only the ruins of his house remain.

Constructing the Greenwell’s house presented a number of challenges. Slate was imported for the roof while lava rock was sourced locally for the walls. A considerable effort was required to bring the rock to the building site, most likely using a Hawaiian sled. Wood used as part of the internal structure of the house was shipped over from the West Coast. Wood used for the furniture inside the home was made from either koa or ‘ohi’a found in the island’s forests.

Fresh water sources in the Kona area were scarce and difficult to access. The Greenwell’s collected rainwater using the run-off from the slate roofs and storing the water in underground cisterns next to the house. Today you can see the remains of the cisterns (see photo below).

The Store Museum

The store was a community hub and was run by Henry Greenwell’s wife Elizabeth Caroline Greenwell when he was away. The store was also the central office for the ranching operation that the Greenwell’s developed on thousands of surrounding acres that formed his enormous landholding.

The store is one of the oldest buildings in Hawai’i. Restoration of the building first began in 2006. Original lime mortar was replaced with modern materials and the shutters were repainted. The attic was also structurally reinforced.

In order to recreate the store as authentically as possible Greenwell’s diaries were consulted and the original inventory list of what he ordered was found in the Bishop Museum. Products were then reproduced to match those on the list.

Entry fee is a donation ($5 per person is recommended) and the museum is only open Mondays and Thursdays from 10am-2pm. The coffee farm is located right next door (Greenwell Farms). They offer great tours and free tastings.

Every Thursday at 10am the Kona Historical Society bakes Portuguese bread in a wood-fired stone oven which is located behind the store, down the hill. Find out more here.

When and where?

H.N. Greenwell Store Museum. Mondays and Thursdays only, 10am – 2pm.

81-6551 Mamalahoa Highway, Kealakekua, HI

Bees on the Big Island

Big Island Bees is a family-owned and operated business. The store and museum is open to the public (including tours) and is a great opportunity to find out how honey is produced, and made into a variety of different products.

Even if you aren’t interested in the tour the store and museum make for an interesting stop on the way down to Two Steps or Kealakekua Bay.

When and where?

Author: Angus Meek

Kona History: H.N. Greenwell Store Museum

The H.N. Greenwell Store was an important focal point of the Kona community in the late nineteenth century. The store museum provides a fascinating glimpse into what life was like in 1890s Hawai’i and is well-worth a visit.

The Greenwell Homestead

The Store Museum

Entry fee is a donation ($5 per person is recommended) and the museum is only open Mondays and Thursdays from 10am-2pm. The coffee farm is located right next door (Greenwell Farms). They offer great tours and free tastings.

When and where?

Author: Angus Meek