From a wooden cabin in Tokomaru Bay, Cate and Mike King tend to their beehives. They open up the freshly finished HQ to Viva and reflect on their journey in a buzzy business.
Cate and Mike King spend their favourite mornings looking out over the Tasman Sea, greeting
It’s the view granted by their warm wooden cabin, perched on a hill in Tokomaru Bay. While it functions as a getaway and a place for their family to gather, it’s also a place of business: beekeepers often stop by on their way to the nearby apiary, where they harvest honey for the couple’s business, King Bees.
The location is a culmination of the 11 years Cate and Mike have spent as business partners. Their journey into beekeeping was encouraged by Cate’s parents, who run a farm in Tokomaru Bay.
“At the time there was a bit of a boom in the honey industry and there are lots of native trees, such as mānuka and kānuka around [the farm],” Mike explains.
“Cate’s dad, he’s a farmer and he’s quite entrepreneurial ... He bought 100 beehives.”
The venture caught Mike’s interest in 2014, and he began to spend weekends and holidays away at the hives honing his skills for apiculture. Steadily, the population of bees grew. When Cate’s dad told the couple he would be putting the business up for sale, they decided to buy it themselves and go all in on beekeeping and honey harvesting together.
This led to the founding of Pauariki Honey in 2016, which focused on supplying honey to bigger brands from their hives in Tokomaru Bay. Since the launch, they have endured the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle on the East Coast and a changeable market.
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Advertise with NZME.King Bees is a relaunch for the couple, prioritising selling their own honey in pantry pottles directly to consumers.
“It’s been hard work, beekeeping over the years, but we really love this industry. It’s our turn to try and rise up and create a brand that speaks about who we are, but also our region, which is really important to us,” Cate says.
Their roles encompass different sides of the business. Mike works as head beekeeper and manages their growing number of staff, while Cate handles sales, design, marketing and exports. They’re happy delegating to each other.
“I’m pretty happy just to go ‘Cate’s boss of that’. I’ll leave that, let her take control of it. She’s definitely got some amazing skillsets that I don’t have,” Mike explains.
“Vice versa,” Cate adds.
The pair met on the eve of Cate’s 18th birthday party, when 19-year-old Mike was on holiday from his first year studying sports science at university.
“Cate’s parents bought a bach about five houses down from where I grew up. We heard there was this 18-year-old girl’s birthday party on ... she served me sausage rolls.
The playlist was an important factor in their meet-cute.
“Beastie Boys on cassette and the rest is history.
“From then on, we’ve pretty much been joined at the hip. We’ve travelled together, both been to university, we’ve got four children together. We run a business together. We are partners in everything,” Cate says.
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Advertise with NZME.To maintain a healthy relationship with the business, the pair have set sturdy ground rules. The most important? Family comes first.
“We chose not to do the local market here in Gisborne on Saturdays because we’ve got four kids and we like coaching the sports teams and being involved with them,” Mike says.
King Bees HQ is another cornerstone of the business: it works to care for the wider family and their growing team of staff. The cabin is in Tokomaru Bay and has come together over the last three years – they’re still putting the finishing touches on it.
“It’s a place of reconnection and it’s the hub of our business and it’s our home.”
The cabin was realised through collaboration with master carpenter, builder and friend Stan Scott.
The cabin is largely made of salvaged and second-hand pieces. The couple also looked to source from local makers – the cedar and redwood used in both the exterior and interior came from a local miller in Gisborne. There are recycled timbers, too, including from an 1880s kauri.
There are smaller fixtures within the cabin that have also been given a second life. The kitchen splashback is made of terracotta tiles, a swordfish bust swims over the dining table and there are stained-glass windows that provide a peek of the surrounding landscape.
“[They] are from an old church that got pulled down from Gisborne,” Mike says.
Touches of the outdoors also make their way inside, reflecting the cabin’s immediate surroundings. The intention is clear with an illuminating industrial lamp painted a dusty orange – Cate and Mike say the shade reminds them of tramping huts in Aotearoa that are splashed with the colour.
There are a few contemporary touches to be spotted too (Martino Gamper’s circus stools scattered throughout the house).
Cate frequents the deck each morning, to sit in a rocking chair and sip a yuzu and honey drink while the sun awakens. Mike often heads up the wooden macrocarpa ladder to enjoy the residual heat of the fire. There’s also the outdoor bath, which overlooks the bay.
“I can’t believe we haven’t done one earlier,” he says.
It’s a site of rest, relaxation and reconnection – and that’s just for the bees, buzzing not so faraway.
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