Now for the bad news : (

Well, originally I was going to post about my discovery of wax moth in one of my hives. I posted earlier about it and upon inspection found that the colony had vacated and wax moth was to be found in both brood boxes. Very disappointing but that pales in comparison to the news from Rep. Mina Morita who informed me that HB 1387 would not be heard as was indicated by an earlier hearing notice sent from the legislature.
Rep. Morita shared that the AGR chair, Rep Clift Tsuji , did not want to hear this bill. She mentioned that the influence of big ag had reared it's ugly head and persuaded the chair of the AGR committee to pull this bill from the agenda. This is the worst of our representative form of democracy; when legislative action is held up due to the influence of moneyed interest. It is sad that a simple bill such as HB1387 would draw opposition from those who claim to have the best interests of the state's agriculture in mind.
Pesticides and pollinators don't mix. We need to have a sensible policy regarding pesticide use in Hawaii and HB 1387 would help develop that policy. If you feel likewise, please e.mail the chair at   or give him a call (phone: 808-586-8480 or fax: 808-586-8484) and let him know you'd like to see HB 1387 scheduled for a hearing. Maybe an e.mail, phone or fax to Rep Tokioka would help steer the chair in the right direction.

Good news and Bad news

First the good news. Our recent meeting with the Kauai legislative team was very productive. All four elected officials were present as we discussed HCR 203 and shared a myriad of concerns with them. Mahalo to District 15  Rep. Jimmy Tokioka and his staff for helping to coordinate the meeting.  District 14 Rep. Mina Morita  along with District 16 Rep. Dee Morikawa and State Senator Ron Kouchi attended with some of our regulars and a few new faces. After wards we submitted a request that they consider reintroducing SB 463. Mahalo to everyone in attendance for your participation.

Yes, this is still part of the good news, but it gets better. HB 1387 was introduced by Reps. Morita and Morikawa. A simple request for the Department of Agriculture (DOA) to publish an annual report on pesticide use in the State including investigations of health complaints by the Department of Health. In addition it will requires users of pesticides to report usage to DOA and allows DOA to impose a fee to recover costs.

The issue of pesticide use in our community is of great importance. This simple request for our government to monitor the safety and well being of our community may be opposed by pesticide users but most reasonable people would agree that we have to start looking at this closely and determine what are the concerns and how do we address them. This bill is a good starting point and helps us all understand how far reaching the issue is.

Testimony can be sent via the internet or can be e.mailed to repmorita@Capitol.hawaii.gov
Include the bill number and the committee in the subject line. The bill is being heard in the Energy and Environmental Protection (EEP) committee and may scheduled for a hearing next week. Hopefully we can move this bill out of committee with out any significant changes and usher it forward to being signed into law.

I'll skip the bad news for now and just say mahalo to all the bee lovers out there who understand the connection between healthy bees and a healthy environment. Have a beautiful day and bee well : )

Save The Bees!

Here's another request to save the bees and ask the EPA to ban clothianidin. I've received numerous e.mails with the similar request. It's an issue that's tied to the Wiki Leaks story and how our government often does not listen to the experts who have done the research and testified one way or another.

According to the article linked above,"Clothianidin is a neonicotinoid insecticide that is both persistent and systemic. Acute toxicity studies to honey bees show that clothianidin is highly toxic on both a contact and an oral basis. Although EFED does not conduct RQ based risk assessments on non-target insects, information from standard tests and field studies, as well as incident reports involving other neonicotinoids insecticides (e.g., imidacloprid) suggest the potential for long-term toxic risk to honey bees and other beneficial insects.

Neonicotinoids have come up before in a previous post and are banned in Italy because of the harmful impact they have on honeybees. The effort to ban clothianidin has gone viral.  Saving the bees maybe trendy but we gotta do something.

First of the Year! pt 2

Sorry for the short notice but wanted to get this out there; KBee will be hosting a public informational meeting today, January 22, 2011 at KCC in the Electronics and Technology Building. The meeting will start at 4:00pm and conclude at 5:30pm.
We'll be meeting w/some of our Kaua'i state legislators to discuss issues related to beekeeping (imagine that!) on Kaua'i and around the state. This was scheduled for our December meeting but with the holidaze and all.....
Here's a cut and paste agenda from an e.mail generated by Amy Luke of Rep. Tokokia's office. A big mahalo to Rep Tokioka and his staff for helping Kaua'i beekeepers have a voice in the state legislature
********************************************************************************

Beekeeper Agenda

1/22/2011

KCC

4pm

1) 2010 HCR 203

Recognizing the efforts of the Kauai beekeepers association and other key stakeholders for their efforts to assist the department of agriculture with education and prevention of the Varroa Mite and other invasive species

http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2010/bills/HCR203_.htm

                Discuss potential influences in Dept. of Agriculture (DOA) and being proactive in Varroa Mite      and Small Hive Beetle issue. 

                Working together  (w/ cuts in funding and positions) on being proactive/relying on community for back up and support.

2) Pesticides- take a look back at pesticide legislation

 2009 SB 463

Requires the DOA to publish an annual report on pesticide use in the State including investigations of health related complaints by the DOH; requires users of pesticides to report usage to the DOA; permits the DOA to impose a fee to recover costs.

(http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2009/lists/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=463)

(http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2009/bills/SB463_.htm)

3) Dept. of Agriculture regulations and restrictions- Interim rule in place from Big Island to Oahu on shipping has lapsed. 

                *Inspections are required for movements of goods and travel.

                *Limited source of funding/limited inspectors

                *What will it take for us to get there/ engaging- Ag side?  Industry side?  Fruits? Flowers?

                *Look at a stakeholders list and tap into where the funds will support invasive species   prevention.

                *Harmful effects of unwanted pests << Grant in aid applications/ federal fund matching               grants>>

4) University of Hawaii and their bee program - CTAHR or DOA –Support for a Queen rearing program-

               

5) Future Forward

                Registration program-beekeepers registrations-Getting active on education

*********************************************************************************

On another note and will post more about this later, a HUGE mahalo to Oliver Shagnasty for his generous donation of 6 hives( boxes and all!) to the KCC apiary program. KBee members were able to assist in the packaging and transporting of the colonies last week under the supervision of Francis Takahashi from KCC and Oliver himself. This donation will help to develop an apiary program at KCC to enhance beekeeping activities and support the related industries that benefit from honeybee management on Kaua'i.

First of the Year!

Been a while, but we survived the holidaze.  I hope the bees did too; the rain was pretty heavy and steady. I had harvested some honey off my strongest hive but now am wondering if I might have robbed the colony of it's precious winter stores. It hasn't been the best of foraging weather lately so I am concerned about the overall health of that colony. The colony next to it I have even greater concerns for. It seems to have had a reduction of bees in and out of the box. The last two times out in the yard the amount of bees in and out has been less and less. I opened up the box to check the hive after first noticing the lack of activity around the entrance. There were plenty of bees in the top box.

I must explain; this colony of bees was recently brought to this property in July from an old hive that had  swarmed and vacated and then was repopulated with a feral swarm afterward. It was a healthy colony with plenty of brood but the boxes were beat and the wax moth had completely decimated the bottom box and frames. I removed  the good frames and burned the rest. It was quite a chore but I enjoyed the work and was hoping to salvage enough brood to relocate them closer to my property. Of the twenty frames in the original two boxes, I ended up with 8 full frames of comb and a little honey. I put another box of empty frames once they were placed in their new yard. They seemed to be transitioning well in their new home and had moved up into the upper deep box. I was ready to put a super on top when i noticed the decline of bees.

So now, after writing this post, I've got check on the bees and find out how they're doing. I have a suspicion that I transferred some wax moth and larvae when I salvaged the original frames and they have started to wreak havoc in the bottom box. We'll find out and keep you posted on the welfare of this colony. The other 3 hives seem to be doing fine except for the chalk brood that I mentioned in an earlier post. I'll spend some time soon opening up the boxes and taking notes of the overall condition of the hives. Hopefully the weather will provide some drier conditions to work the yard and let the bees forage on whatever flowers are in bloom.

Just like I am concerned about the health and welfare of the bees in my neighbor's yard I am concerned about the bees across the state and across the globe. I recently received several e.mails all touching on the issues of pesticides being sprayed in proximity of bees and their overall harmful effects on our environment.  Primarily, it's clothianidin that is causing great concern for many recently. The fact that our government often has a role in this environmental calamity is quite sickening. From the feds to our own HDOA we are often harmed by their interventions or lack of that help to create crisis conditions all over the place.

And things may get worse before they get better. It looks like it's going to be wet again today.

Happy Holidaze!

KBEE Public Informational Meeting
Monday 12/20/10 5:30pm

Kauai Community College
Electronic & Technology Building
Rm 114  

(look for KBee sign)

Tonight's KBee meeting will be starting at 5:30 pm instead of the 6pm time posted earlier. With the college shut down for the holidays we will have no lights in the parking area. So starting earlier will allow us to end earlier and allow the fading light assist in negotiating the stairs and help us find our cars before the lunar eclipse starts. Should be an amazing celestial show if the clouds part and let us enjoy the sights.

I received an email from a friend with this link to a New York Times article. It's a great read and explains why people all over are setting up hives in their backyards or in their neighbors. Not everyone gets into beekeeping to make money, or to pollinate their crops. Some do it just to help the bees or want to contribute to the overall health of the environment. Others see the value they add to agricultural or horticultural endeavors on a local level. In my opinion, it's good value and the article sums up my reasons for getting involved with bees and trying to help them stay healthy here on Kaua'i.

With that said, I hope you can make it tonight for our last meeting of 2010. May the New Year bring you plenty of peace and prosperity, an abundance of good health and happiness and lots of flowers for your bee friends. Bee well and and have a Merry Christmas.

Kaua'i Beekeeper's Association Meeting

Here's a link about an article in the NY Times concerning the hazards of red food color from Marischino cheries and their waste mixing with foraging bees. How do you control those bees?

I'm glad that we don't have to contend with that. Our biggest concern is the small hive beetle  and the dreaded varroa mite.

Our next meeting will be on Monday December 20, 2010. It will be our last meeting of the year and we look forward to planning some events for the New Year. Here's the details:

KBEE Public Informational Meeting
Monday 12/20/10 6:00pm

Kauai Community College
Electronic & Technology Building
Rm 114

Pot luck and share your mana'o
Look for KBee signs outside E&T Building

Happy holidays!