National Program Collecting Bee Data in Hawaii

HONOLULU – The public is invited to an informational meeting on the current status of honeybees in Hawaii on Friday, March 23^rd at the Maui Community College, Ka Lama 103 at 5:30 p.m. The meeting will feature Michael Andree of the Bee Informed Partnership (BIP), who is visiting Hawaii to collect data on bees. In addition, Lauren Rusert, technician with the Hawaii Department of Agriculture’s Apiary Program, will provide information on the local bee situation. For more information on the meeting, contact Lauren Rusert at 808-352-3010.

The BIP program’s goal is to help determine management practices that reduce losses in bee colonies across the nation. It is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture in the amount of $5 million over five years and involves many co-investigator partners around the U.S. To learn more about BIP, go to: https://beeinformed.org/

The Hawaii Apiary Program also encourages Hawaii beekeepers to join the Beekeepers Registry, which was established last year. Registration is voluntary and the information is kept confidential. It allows HDOA to keep beekeepers informed of developments in the industry. Only five Maui beekeepers have registered so far out of 81 registered statewide. To learn more about the Hawaii Apiary Program go to: https://hawaii.gov/hdoa/pi/ppc/bee-folder/bee-informed

###