Big Island Beekeepers Association (BIBA) November Monthly Meeting

This month we have the pleasure of welcoming the Hawaii Dept. of Ag. Apiary Team – Stacey Chun, Maria and Cheryl, who will be discussing honey bee diseases, Africanized Honey Bees and helpful resources, import/export rules, best practices on old equipment and Q&A! Please come with your questions for the team!

The HDOA Apiary Teams Bio:

Maria, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture & Tropical horticulture specialty with a beekeeping certificate from UH Hilo. She’s been with the Hawaii Department of Agriculture Apiary program since 2019 and has worked with and managed bees for about 6 years now. She enjoys the continual education she receives by working with these amazing little buzzing friends.

Cheryl Yara, was born on Oahu, came to Hilo in 2009 for college. She is a UH Hilo graduate with a pre-vet major and has a great love for all animals. During college she took beekeeping and came to love bees and has worked with bees ever since. She had a job taking care of bees at UH Hilo farm for 3 years and then got a job at the Department of Agriculture in the Apiary program. This is where she has been working for the past 3 years, working to keep new pests out of the state, maintain bee health, and spread awareness about bees.

Stacey HDOA- Hilo Entomologist. Associated with the Hawaii Apiary program since 2009 and manages about a dozen honeybee colonies.

“Here at HDOA Apiary Program we strive to promote agriculture in the best and most sustainable way we can. We perform biosecurity measures by monitoring ports of entry into Hawaii for invasive pests and diseases of Honey bees. We perform inspections and certify queen breeders who wish to ship queen bees off island; and offer hive side assistance to beekeepers who have hive health issues. We help relocate swarms to new homes, so please give us a call if you would like to be put on our list to receive swarms and/or take any swarm calls. We are here to help answer your questions and concerns regarding anything to deal with honey bees.”

Join us at 6pm, presentations and discussions to start by 6:15pm Hawaii Time.