Say Hi to the Team
Dr. Steven Thoenes (CEO, Owner)
In 1970, when Steve was 10 years old, his father first opened a small shop called Southwest Bee Supply (First Known as Beeline Inc). From those early beginnings, Steve would go on to earn a number of related degrees in chemistry, biochemistry, and statistics finishing with a masters and, later, a PhD in entomology.
After working for the US Department of Agriculture, Steve opened BeeMaster Inc. ® 1993. Since then, he has performed thousands of high quality hive removals and swarm relocations, and has invented, patented, and marketed a number of bee related technologies. His expert advice has been sought out for scenarios ranging from the courtroom to the BBC and Nature documentaries.
When he’s not saving the world from bees, Steve enjoys spending time with his family, playing strategy games, and reading a good fantasy novel.
Christian Thoenes
The youngest of Steve’s three boys, Christian is the next generation of BeeMaster ® leadership. In his current role, Christian is responsible for many aspects of the business including Live Trap installation and monitoring, job intake and scheduling, and product production and packaging. He can also be found on many of the larger bee hive removal jobs, assisting and learning from his father’s decades of expertise. He is even known to help Scott and Garret with the bee yards from time to time.
When he’s not kicking butt at work, he can be found playing video games with his friends or on the field playing team soccer with his wife Julia.
Scott Nikaido
Originally from Oahu, Hawaii, Scott is the founder of Bee Works Hawaii. He works as a field and lab technician at The University of Hawaii at Manoa’s DNA Analysis Lab, and is the Lead Bee Breeder for BeeMaster Inc. ®
In 2020, Scott made the move to Arizona where, with his guidance, we have quadrupled the number of hives in our yards, developed the best Africanized Bee management program in Arizona, and established a program of long term bee husbandry to create our “Perfect Bee”.
When he’s not out making splits in the yards, Scott is a voracious sports fan and an avid fisherman.
Garret Lovins
When asked, Garret describes his role at BeeMaster Inc. ® as “handyman/bee-boy” but the fact of the matter is that his role is much more integral to BeeMaster’s ® success than he would ever admit.
Garret, who has a background as professional welder, cares for and upgrades our fleet of vehicles, manufactures much of our equipment, prototypes new ideas, and has been known to work the odd bee removal here and there. Lately, he has begun to apprentice under Scott, learning the craft, art, and science of beekeeping and intentional genetic mixing.
He’s a sucker for local craft beers, loves a good video game, and has trouble staying up past 10pm.