The Buzz About Honey Bees in Honolulu

Learn about these important pollinators for National Honey Bee Day on Aug. 19.

August 18, 2017

Catherine Toth Fox,

Photo: Steve Czerniak

Honey bees pollinate many of the foods we eat, from coffee to avocados. And the bee farms in Hawai‘i boast the highest honey yield in the nation, generating more than 100 pounds per colony per year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Thousands of Hawai‘i-grown queen bees are exported every week.

But these pollinators, critical to the our food supply and ecosystem, are being threatened globally by habitat loss, pollution, pesticides and climate change. So, in 2009, the beekeeping industry decided to launch National Honey Bee Day, a way to raise awareness about the importance of bees.

“We really heavily rely upon the honeybee to provide pollination of different crops such as your lychee, your longan, to your pumpkins and squashes that you see on the farms and you see in the markets,” said Scott Nikaido, a research technician with the UH Honeybee Project, in a story published by the university.

Aug. 19—tomorrow—is National Honey Bee Day, and we’ve got the latest buzz on honey bees in Hawai‘i. Read about how local honey is having a comeback and what seven buzzworthy local honey products you need to check out, from our February 2017 ‘Ono section.

Then go eat some honey!