Hawaii honey bees in Trouble?

[alaskyn66]

Saw this the other day...

http://hawaiipublicradio.org/post/honey-...big-island

Something else to worry about I guess..

[Kenney]

Yes, heard about this last week but it hadn't been found here yet. This is serious. Disease lives 50-80 years on tools and exposed items/ areas and there is no way to kill it.. No bees for 4 generations? This is awful..

[glassnumbers]

Maybee science can find a cure, let's try and bee positive!!

Aloha

[Carey]

The NPR article was from a BIBA press release based on a HI State DOAg press release that was in PUNAWEB on 4/8:
http://www.punaweb.org/Forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=23418

& that was published in the Hawaii Tribune Herald on Thurs. 4/13,
http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/news/loc...lcano-hive

[Guest]

Just my opinion here, so no need for another glassnumbers hissy fit or who you know in the White house remark here.

The native honey bee's may be declining a bit on Hawaii island and in the state but the overall bee population seems to be stronger than ever. The many varieties of recently introduced bee colonies are doing quite well on the island thus far.

[MarkD]

Maybee science can find a cure, let's try and bee positive!! by glassnumbers

I do not see anything here other than positive thoughts (other than an attempt at humor.)

Why disparage the writer? For something he said in another post?

Or for something you think he might have said here (but did not say)? ?????

[Kenney]

Glad to hear someone's still seeing bees . We used to have 2 wild hives here. They all died when the last bee epidemic came through.
Honey bees are so rare here now when we see ONE (never more) we get the camera out and take their pictures. ( so we remember what they look like). So far we have seen 3 or 4 in the past 10 years. IMO, that is a stark decline.

I think I'll take glassnumber's suggestion and "bee positive."

There's really no need for anybody to have a hissy fit or point fingers at other posters. JMO

[Midnight Rambler]

quote:

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Originally posted by gypsy69

The native honey bee's may be declining a bit on Hawaii island and in the state but the overall bee population seems to be stronger than ever. The many varieties of recently introduced bee colonies are doing quite well on the island thus far.

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There are no native honeybees here. The only native bees are the yellow-faced bees, which are solitary and are also not doing well. Honeybees are all introduced, beginning in the mid 1800s.

Also, it's worth pointing out that this disease was already found here back in the 1900s, so its appearance now may well be the result of that long dormancy period rather than a new introduction. Also, while it is a problem, it's not epidemic like Varroa mites - AFB is present all over the mainland as well.

[1voyager1]

MR is correct. There are no native honeybees in Hawaii.
Plus, feral honeybee hives do not survive for very long.
They decline and die out fairly rapidly.
There are too many diseases and pests of the hives that require the attention of a keeper to keep them in check.
Except for a few fleeting hives, all honeybees in Hawaii are domestic.

[knieft]

quote:

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Also, it's worth pointing out that this disease was already found here back in the 1900s, so its appearance now may well be the result of that long dormancy period rather than a new introduction. Also, while it is a problem, it's not epidemic like Varroa mites - AFB is present all over the mainland as well.

---

We have 34 hives on our property maintained by Hawaii Island Honey Company. I asked the owner a couple months ago how they were fairing with the mites. He was very upbeat about a simple low tech hive alteration that forced the mites to walk through a death trap of some sort that didn't affect the bees at all. Overall, he stated their hives were booming.

I'm very happy that the mite death of all bees and pollination collapse of civilization never happened. Hope AFB will also be dealt with effectively, though it sounds like a different beast, so to speak.

Cheers,
Kirt