Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Lingle endangers Hawaii's honey industry and Neighbor Island agriculture by withholding funds to protect bees
The headline of this Hawaii Tribune-Herald story tells it all: Lingle nixes more money to fight bee killer.
The bee killer is the Varroa destructor mite which is hitching a ride on the Superferry as described in the article.
For want of a small amount of money, not only the honey industry but Neighbor Island agriculture is put at risk:
Honey is a $1.5 million industry in Hawaii, with queen bee production in Kona worth another $3 million to $5 million per year. But even more essential is the state's $450 million agriculture industry, particularly fruit, macadamia nuts and coffee, which rely on bee pollination to survive.
We wrote about that over a month ago. It's good to see the issue in a mainstream news article.
But something needs to be done.
Just waiting for Varroa mites to invade the Neighbor Islands on the Superferry or in other ways is a clear recipe for disaster.
It's disaster that Lingle is cooking up.
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