Hard to keep up!

Here's the first post in a month. So much stuff going on. The Garden Fair was a good time, mahalo to Eric and Francis for your help in making the KBEE booth happen. Unfortunately, Darcy Oishi from the HDOA was unable to attend but Jackie Kozak from HISC and Cal Hirai from OC 16 were present to video tape part of it as a project to raise awareness about the role HDOA plays in securing and inspecting agricultural products moved throughout the state.

Craig Kaneshige who is the Kauai HDOA field person who does monitoring and pest removal was able to attend the meeting and shared that there was a swarm trap with bees in the Port Allen vicinity. Craig along with KBEE members removed the swarm trap. 

Here's a couple of photos of the swarm trap excursion.

 This was the first joint swarm trap removal between HDOA and KBEE.  The trap was full of bees and some comb and has been sent off island to be tested for varroa mite and other bee maladies such as American Foul Brood .

Of course, now with the news from the Big Island, the small hive beetle  (SHB) may be our next pest of great concern. We'll post any news or reports from the HDOA on how we may best prevent the spread of SHB. The bees sure have a lot of challenges these days but hopefully the resiliency of our honey making pollinators can overcome them. From over working them to potential harmful GMO products our bees are at risk and need all the support we can give'em.   Mahalo to all of you who have decided to be bee friendly and help however you can.

We'll be sitting at a KBEE booth at the Seed Exchange next week in Kapa'a. Hope to see you there.