Bee-study bill reaches desk of governor
Gov. Neil Abercrombie has received legislation to provide $30,000 in funding for honeybee research, half of it on Hawaii island.
House Bill 2100, introduced by state Rep. Clift Tsuji (D, South Hilo-Puna), chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, passed its final reading May 4, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported.
The measure would provide funds for bee research programs for the 2012-13 fiscal year. Maui and Kauai counties would get $5,000 each, as would Honolulu.
Russell Kokubun, director of the state Agriculture Department, told legislators in March that Hawaii’s bees are under siege by the small hive beetle and varroa mite. The beetle "is not easily controlled by chemicals and current trapping methods are messy, expensive, and labor intensive," Kokubun said in a statement.
UH-Hilo entomology professor Lorna Arita-Tsutsumi said the funds would allow her students to better research ways of fighting the pests. There are 25 hives at the college’s apiary on a 110-acre farm in Panaewa.
Bedroom blaze damages home in Fern Forest
Hawaii island firefighters could not determine the cause of a fire in a modular home Saturday in Volcano.
The fire started at about 4 a.m. at 11-2000 Jungle King Ave. in the Fern Forest subdivision, firefighters said.
Firefighters found flames in one section of an unpermitted, single-story module-type home with the metal roof partially collapsed. A woman staying in the home was already out and said she didn’t know how the fire started.
Firefighters extinguished the fire in the bedroom. Damage was estimated at $500.
