Three years in the making. Three hardworking formulas. One East Coast family of beekeepers.
What if the Mānuka honey in your pantry could inspire something just as useful for your bathroom cupboard, beach bag or family first-aid kit?
That's where the idea for BEE WELL Everyday Skin Relief began.
We're beekeepers, and for years we've harvested Mānuka honey from our hives scattered across the rugged East Coast of New Zealand. We know the landscape, the bees and the remarkable honey they produce.
But we wanted to take our honey beyond the jar.
As parents of four kids who spend a lot of time outdoors, we know that life comes with dry patches, chapped lips, rough hands, blemishes and the occasional little knock or scrape.
We wanted natural, hardworking skincare that was easy to use, easy to carry and practical enough for everyday family life.
So we spent three years creating it.
Meet BEE WELL. POTENT. PROTECT. REPAIR.
Inspired by the Traditional First-Aid Kit. Made for Modern Family Life.
There's something reassuring about a well-stocked first-aid kit. It's practical. Familiar. Always there when you need it.
That thinking inspired BEE WELL, right down to our bold packaging and aluminium tubes, influenced by vintage first-aid essentials.
But we weren't trying to create another complicated skincare routine.
We wanted three genuinely useful products, each with its own purpose, made with thoughtfully selected ingredients and designed to go wherever life takes you.
From the family bathroom to the glovebox, beach bag, handbag or camping kit.
BEE WELL. ANYWHERE, ANYTIME.
Why Mānuka Honey Is So Interesting for Skincare
Mānuka honey isn't just another type of honey.
Produced by bees collecting nectar from New Zealand's native Mānuka flower, it's known for its naturally occurring methylglyoxal, or MGO.
MGO is one of the compounds that makes Mānuka honey scientifically interesting, particularly in research into its distinctive antibacterial properties.
But when it comes to everyday skincare, there's another important benefit: moisture.
Honey is naturally humectant, meaning it helps attract and retain moisture. In skincare formulations, it can help condition dry skin and leave it feeling softer and more comfortable.
At King Bees, we use MGO 300+ Mānuka honey harvested from our own East Coast hives.
It's an ingredient we know from the very beginning of its journey.
And it's at the heart of all three BEE WELL formulations.
Three Products. Three Different Jobs.
Not every skin concern needs the same product.
That's why we created three different formulas, designed to be used individually or together.
POTENT | MGO 300+ Mānuka Honey Concentrate
WHEN YOUR SKIN NEEDS MORE.
POTENT is our most concentrated formulation, made with over 80% MGO 300+ Mānuka honey.
Created for targeted care, it helps moisturise and comfort visibly stressed skin, dry patches, blemish-prone areas and everyday skin flare-ups.
We've combined our honey with glycerin, jojoba esters and oat kernel flour to help soften, condition and comfort skin.
And because we love products that do more than one job, POTENT doubles as a nourishing face mask.
How to use: Apply to targeted areas for 15 minutes before rinsing, or use as a face mask for 15–20 minutes.
Discover POTENT Mānuka Honey Concentrate
PROTECT | Mānuka Honey Balm
YOUR EVERYDAY SHIELD AGAINST THE ELEMENTS.
Dry lips? Rough hands? Heels that have seen better days?
Meet PROTECT.
A rich, multipurpose Mānuka honey balm made with beeswax, East Cape Mānuka oil, MGO 300+ Mānuka honey and a nourishing blend of botanical oils and butters.
Beeswax helps create a moisture-retaining barrier over the skin, while shea butter, cocoa butter, castor oil and sea buckthorn oil work together to soften and condition.
It's especially useful for areas exposed to wind, salt air and cold weather.
How to use: Apply daily to lips, hands, heels and dry patches. Reapply whenever your skin needs extra care.
Discover PROTECT Mānuka Honey Balm
REPAIR | Mānuka Honey Cream
EVERYDAY MOISTURE. HARDWORKING SKIN CARE.
Sometimes your skin just needs a good moisturiser.
REPAIR is our nourishing everyday Mānuka honey cream, created for dry, rough, chapped and weather-exposed skin.
Made with MGO 300+ Mānuka honey, East Cape Mānuka oil, glycerin, shea butter, calendula, flaxseed oil and other carefully selected ingredients.
It helps replenish moisture, soften dry skin and support the skin's natural moisture barrier.
Lightweight enough for everyday use, yet hardworking enough for skin exposed to the elements.
How to use: Massage into clean skin daily or as needed. Perfect for hands, body and dry patches.
Discover REPAIR Mānuka Honey Cream
More Than Honey: The Ingredients Behind BEE WELL
While Mānuka honey is where our story began, creating an effective everyday skincare range meant looking beyond the hive.
We worked alongside a New Zealand skincare formulator to bring together ingredients with complementary roles.
East Cape Mānuka Oil
Extracted from the leaves and branches of the native Mānuka plant, Mānuka oil contains naturally occurring botanical compounds that have attracted scientific interest.
East Cape Mānuka oil is particularly recognised for its distinctive triketone profile.
We've included it in PROTECT and REPAIR as part of their carefully balanced skin-conditioning formulations.
Beeswax From Our Own Hives
Beeswax is another remarkable material produced by honeybees.
In skincare, it helps form a protective, moisture-retaining layer that reduces moisture loss.
We use beeswax from our own hives in PROTECT, where it works alongside nourishing oils and butters to give the balm its rich, comforting texture.
Botanical Oils, Butters and Skin-Conditioning Ingredients
Shea butter. Cocoa butter. Calendula. Flaxseed oil. Sea buckthorn. Glycerin. Jojoba esters. Oat kernel flour.
Each ingredient has been selected for a reason.
Some help attract moisture. Others soften and condition. Some help create a barrier that keeps moisture in.
The result is three different formulations with three clear purposes.
No complicated routines. Just ingredients with jobs to do.
Three Years of Trials, Testing and Plenty of Learning
Creating BEE WELL took longer than we expected.
There were countless samples, changes to formulations, packaging decisions and plenty of moments when we went back to the drawing board.
We worked with a New Zealand skincare formulator to turn our idea into three purposeful products.
We also spent a lot of time thinking about how people would actually use them.
Would they fit in a handbag? Could you throw one into a camping kit? Would they be practical enough to keep close during a busy family day?
Even the aluminium tubes were a deliberate choice.
Inspired by vintage first-aid packaging, they're practical, distinctive and designed to develop character as they're used.
Because BEE WELL was never meant to sit untouched on a bathroom shelf.
We want you to use it. Carry it. Take it places.
Your Everyday Skin Relief Kit
For parents, surfers, gardeners, farmers, travellers and anyone who spends time outdoors, skin takes on a lot.
Wind. Saltwater. Cold mornings. Dry air. Long days.
That's why we think everyday skincare should be straightforward.
Reach for POTENT when an area needs concentrated attention.
Keep PROTECT close for dry lips, rough hands and skin needing an extra moisture-retaining layer.
Use REPAIR daily to replenish moisture and keep skin feeling soft and comfortable.
Three different products. No compulsory three-step routine.
And while BEE WELL takes inspiration from the traditional first-aid kit, it's designed to sit alongside your family's usual first-aid essentials, not replace them.
From Our Hives to Your Skin
There's something special about creating a product from an ingredient you've spent years producing yourself.
We know where our Mānuka honey comes from because we're the people caring for the bees.
We know the East Coast landscape, its changing seasons and the work that goes into every harvest.
BEE WELL brings that story into a completely new part of everyday life.
And after three years of development, we're excited to finally share it.
FAMILY FRIENDLY. NO FUSS. NO FILLERS.
LIFE HAPPENS. BEE WELL.
