Burt Shavitz, the Face of Burt's Bees, Dies at 80

Image via Burt’s Bees

Burt Shavitz, the name and face behind Burt’s Bees, has died at age 80.

Shavitz was born in Great Neck, N.Y., in 1935 and later moved to Maine where he became a free spirit and sold honey off the side of the road, the Washington Post reports.

Burt’s Bees had this to say about the passing of “The Bee Man” on their website:

“Burt Shavitz, our co-founder and namesake, has left for greener fields and wilder woods. We remember him as a bearded, free-spirited Maine man, a beekeeper, a wisecracker, a lover of golden retrievers and his land. Above all, he taught us to never lose sight of our relationship with nature. Thanks for everything, Burt. You will live in our hearts forever.”

Shavitz died from respiratory complications while surrounded by family and friends in Maine, CNN Money reports.

Burt’s Bees describes how Shavitz went from selling local honey to becoming the namesake behind a billion dollar company:

“It was the summer of ’84, and Maine artist Roxanne Quimby was thumbing a ride home (back when you could still do that sort of thing). Eventually a bright yellow Datsun pickup truck pulled over, and Roxanne instantly recognized Burt Shavitz, a local fella whose beard was almost as well-known as his roadside honey stand. Burt and Roxanne hit it off, and before long, Roxanne was making candles with unused wax from Burt’s beehives. They made $200 at their first craft fair; within a year, they’d make $20,000. Pretty auspicious beginning – but just the beginning, all the same.”

In 1999, Shavitz was bought out of Burt’s Bees and was given a house in Maine worth $130,000, according to The Washington Post.

The Post says the company was later sold to Clorox for nearly $1 billion in 2007.

Shavitz was a humble man who didn’t care much about money. In a documentary on Shavitz called “Burt’s Buzz,” he said he had no desire to become an “upward-mobile rising yuppie with a trophy wife, a trophy house, a trophy car.”

Watch the film’s trailer below:

The hashtag #BurtLivesOn is being used on social media for people to reflect on Shavitz’s legacy.