Paradise Nectar endured many losses after moving our apiary from lower Puna to Wainaku after the lava flow covered our farm in 2018. 

The neighbors and county workers who sprayed herbicide on the flowering plants in a 2–5-mile radius from our apiary caused seriously harmful effects to our honeybees from 2018-2024.  We went from 67 strong hives to 13, and experienced continuous losses as we worked to rebuilt and grow our apiary.

As a bee guardian, farmer, and educator, I, Jen Lair, felt compelled to help our honeybees and speak up about the harmful effects of herbicide.

I started Island Organic Cuisine, a food business devoted to serving only 100% organic ingredients in March 2024.  We opened as a food truck with the intention to set up at the farm we were caretaking in Wainaku and sell the food we grew as delicious gourmet cuisine.  We had an ideal location to do it.

Since it was a process to get started and we wanted to build a following, we parked at a food truck lot by the beaches in Hilo.  For over a year we sold delicious organic cuisine and built a following from all over the world since we were in an ideal tourist location.  

With our large signs that shared why bees are important to our handouts about pollinators and how to help them, we share the love of bees and our delicious honey-based sauces and discovered that people love our honey and sauces as much as we do!!