MEDIA RELEASE

Celebrate the first Bee Buddy Festival noon-4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 15 Uncle Robert’s Kava Club in Kalapana.

Learn how to be a Bee Buddy and keep the honey flowing.

Living on Hawaii Island, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and farthest away from landfall, the honeybees, major pollinators of our food supply are vitally important to us.

We are facing a difficult time with many bees dying from various assaults, including virroa mites, small hive beetle, GMO plants and toxic substances on our aina and shortage of good bee food. As well, honeybees have been mysteriously disappearing across the planet, literally vanishing from their hives.

Known as Colony Collapse Disorder, this phenomenon has brought beekeepers to crisis in an industry responsible for producing apples, coffee, mac nuts, mangos, broccoli, watermelon, onions, cherries and a hundred other fruits and vegetables. Commercial honeybee operations pollinate crops that make up one out of every three bites of food on our tables.

Bee Buddy’s was created to provide information and solutions so everyone from keiki to kupuna can have a part to play in helping bring our honeybees back and making our local environment more conducive to their wellbeing.

Plus, it helps us continue to enjoy the foods they so generously pollinate to keep us well fed.

Alison Yahna of Artemis Smiles will preview her trailer “Temple for the Divine Honeybee.”

Yahna said, “Artemis Smiles Honeybee Sanctuary is dedicated to restoring a reverent, loving and mutually beneficial relationship between bees and humans. We practice spirit-centered beekeeping and direct communication with the Honeybees. The bees have helped us understand why they are ‘vanishing’ and what they need for their health and protection.”

We will be featuring bee products, bee movies (The Vanishing of the Bees), talk story sessions with bee keepers, apiary technician Lauren Rusert from the state apiary program, theme song, information handouts, seed give-aways, plus entertainment featuring Diana Aki, Princess Keliihoomalu, and a proclamation from Mayor Billy Kenoi in support of Bee Buddies.

For further information call Star at 896-8658 or email beebuddieshawaii@yahoo.com

— Find out more:
www.beebuddieshawaii.com