Since 2013 the Big Island honey bees have been plagued with the arrival of the small hive beetle. Various changes in housing for the colonies of honey bees are proving protective for them. In the onset of the small hive beetle attack Langstroth hive boxes were outfitted with underpans with oils traps beneath boxes fitted with screen bottoms. Overtime, instead of Langstroth hives many small scale bee keepers are using top bar hives, likewise replacing the oil pans with with trays of diatomaceous earth. Diatomaceous earth is cleaner and safer for the bees. On the island of Hawaii among others, young beekeeper Jenny Rasputin is doing great and innovative work – Visiting Waimea this year the fields laden with clover were frighteningly still and silent-the usual myriad honey bees in the clover were no where to be seen- this was the case for the period of December until our recent visit to Waimea in June.

Up until now the Global Ecology Foundation has not been leveraging the use of the Internet, but seeing the current situation with the honey bee in the prodigious town of Waimea, Hawaii – the situation is dire. The Global Ecology Foundation is joining the Internet now. Honey bees are our friends they are responsible for the pollination of the majority of the foodstuffs upon which we rely for our nutrition- they urgently need our assistance. They urgently need friends- How about you?