--- title: Burt Shavitz of Burt's Bees Fame Passes Away at 80 description: The Burt's Bees website says Shavitz will be remembered as a "free-spirited Maine man, a beekeeper, a wisecracker" canonical: https://time.com/3946136/burt-shavitz-burts-bees-died/ author: Joanna Plucinska article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-06T04:41:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:45:15.913Z og:title: Burt Shavitz of Burt's Bees Fame Passes Away at 80 og:description: Burt's Bees' website says he will be remembered as a "free-spirited Maine man." og:url: https://time.com/3946136/burt-shavitz-burts-bees-died/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt824babbf924faf85/698859a30a4a220c3b9c503b/ap_123691095508.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5184 og:image:height: 2916 og:image:alt: Burt Shavitz og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Burt Shavitz of Burt's Bees Fame Passes Away at 80 twitter:description: Burt's Bees' website says he will be remembered as a "free-spirited Maine man." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt824babbf924faf85/698859a30a4a220c3b9c503b/ap_123691095508.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Beekeeper Burt Shavitz of Burt's Bees Fame Passes Away at 80 > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Each week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published weekly. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/newsletters?i=e80e0e86-36d6-4fb4-bd75-8e936038cdab&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Burt's Buzz Preview Clip: Burt in Taiwan [Watch (HLS stream): Burt's Buzz Preview Clip: Burt in Taiwan](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/2c1rfKrK.m3u8) (1:41)  _Published 2014-05-23. Burt of Burt's Bees meets his fans in Taiwan in a preview clip of_ by [Joanna Plucinska](https://time.com/author/joanna-plucinska/) ## Joanna Plucinska Jul 6, 2015 4:41 AM UTC  Burt Shavitz poses for a photo on his property in Parkman, Maine. Shavitz, a former beekeeper, is the Burt behind Burt's Bees Burt Shavitz poses for a photo on his property in Parkman, Maine. Shavitz, a former beekeeper, is the Burt behind Burt's Bees Robert F. Bukaty—AP by [Joanna Plucinska](https://time.com/author/joanna-plucinska/) ## Joanna Plucinska Jul 6, 2015 4:41 AM UTC Burt Shavitz, who founded the Burt’s Bees beauty brand, has passed away at the age of 80 in Bangor, Maine. According to _USA Today_, he died of respiratory complications, surrounded by friends and family. Shavitz gained recognition as his personal-care products, decorated with a likeness of his face, spread around the world. And you can see in the video below — a clip filmed in Taiwan from _Burt’s Buzz_, a documentary about Shavitz’s business and unconventional life — he even had a certain global [rock-star](http://time.com/125471/burts-buzz-burts-bees-founder-taiwan/) quality to him. But before his face was plastered on his namesake all-natural products, Shavitz was a small-scale honey salesman, peddling his goods on a roadside in Maine. That’s where he serendipitously met Roxanne Quimby — a hitchhiking single mother who eventually became his business partner, _USA Today_ says. The two started Burt’s Bees in 1984 after Quimby began fashioning Shavitz’s unused beeswax into candles. In the first year, the pair made around $20,000 from their products. Eventually, the company expanded into making lotions, lip balms, soaps and a range of bath products. Now, Burt’s Bees is owned by Clorox and sells products in over 40 countries. The [Burt’s Bees](http://www.burtsbees.com/) website says Shavitz will be remembered as “a bearded, free-spirited Maine man, a beekeeper, a wisecracker, a lover of golden retrievers and his land.” \[[_USA Today_](http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2015/07/05/burts-bees-founder-dies/29751663/)\] ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] [ NOISE ] [ MUSIC ] Welcome to Taiwan. 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