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.