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 founded BeeMaster Inc.® in 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
COO
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 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.
Garret Lovins
Bee manager / Handyman
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 been managing our bee yards, practicing 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.
Matt Mitchell
Field Tech / Admin Assistant
As one of the newer members of our team, Matt entered the fascinating world of bees with great enthusiasm. We initially hired him as an administrator, but while he was being educated through experience in field work he developed a passion for the job and so he was primarily trained in that role. Dr. Thoenes taught him all the techniques and strategies of detecting and removing bee and wasp infestations that he has acquired over more than 30 years in the business, and Matt absorbed and appreciated all of the knowledge that he shared.
Now fully licensed by the state of Arizona for pest control, Matt is one of our primary field technicians and is constantly learning and growing in his role. He loves learning new things and consistently works with integrity – when he does a job, he does it the right way every time. He also helps out with some admin work and has taken the lead in maintaining our fleet of trucks and vans.
In his spare time, Matt enjoys spending time with his wife and their two cats and two dogs at home, going to see movies, reading, and working on his own or his friend’s cars as a shade-tree mechanic!