Hawaiian Rainbow Bees may be a small, family-owned-and-operated business, but it has made leaps and bounds in the business world that are anything but small. Take for instance, the impressive feat of winning the well-deserved annual Small Business Administration Exporter of the Year Award for 2018. They won this award both for the State of Hawaii and for District 9, which includes California, Arizona and Nevada. Winning the award not only not only got Hawaiian Rainbow Bees and Malcolm state recognition in the State House, but also got him on the cover and mention in the Hawaii Business Magazine.
Malcolm Yorkston, the founder and owner of Hawaiian Rainbow Bees LLC, was glowing with pride as his business was recognized for its place as the winning Small Business Exporter of the Year. The business really has taken off---it started with Malcolm selling a few extra jars of honey at local farmers’ markets, but excellence has a way of making itself known, and Hawaiian Rainbow Bees is now being sold to Asian markets and to the mainland.
Yorkston was recognized with the award at the 31st Annual SBA Awards & Editor’s Choice luncheon on Friday, May 4, 2018. The luncheon took place at the luxurious Prince Waikiki.
While Yorkston is surely very pleased with the award, he’s not one to let this kind of recognition get to his head. A schoolteacher/beekeeper, Yorkston can still be found educating Oahu’s children on Hawaii’s rich history and, of course, at one of his apiaries, decked out in his full bee suit, with a fresh honeycomb dripping with one of his four Hawaiian honeys and probably with one or both of his helpful daughters in tow. Malcolm and his family have what it takes to create an outstanding local business---determination, shared values, and the resolve needed to walk calmly into a swarm of bees.
It is a great honor to be bestowed the selective Small Business Award, but it is a greater honor, Malcolm would argue, to be a part of something bigger than himself, to honor Hawaii’s industrious spirit, and to be in touch with the nature and beauty of Oahu. His mission, after all, is to share the spirit of aloha with the world.
