Module 2: Bird and Bee – Day 1

For our first field day at Bird and Bee, we will be taking a deep dive into all things beekeeping. 

Bird and Bee Hawai’i – Susan Collins

Bird and Bee Hawaii Farm and Apiary started 7 years ago in Honoka’a.  It is located on a 5-acre small farm in Honokaa which we have owned since 2011. I typically have 25-35 hives at any given time. Experience with bees and my background in education naturally led me to start offering classes from our home to people learning or wanting to learn more about honey bees.

The 4 part Art of Beekeeper course allows up to 8 people per class.  Participants are immersed in 26 hrs of beekeeping through Google Classroom, in-person lectures, and hands-on experiences in the beehives at my apiary. Most students are farmers local to the Big Island who already have their own farms or orchards. Students participate in classes to provide pollination to their farm and community; create value-added products; understand beekeeping for future application on their homesteads, or understand honey bees and the role that pollinators play in growing food.  A weekly mentoring program is offered free to all past participants as well.  This allows for ongoing learning as well as networking with other beekeepers in the community.

The course will cover the following general topics as well as much more.

• The bee colony and the history of beekeeping in the United States.
• Tools of the trade – What equipment is needed and how to use it.
• How to build equipment.
• Pests of the hive – how to manage them
• Value-added products of the hive
• Honey extracting -the tools needed and how to use them
• Colony management techniques

Other services that are offered through Bird and Bee Hawaii include mentoring new beekeepers; colony removal and rescue; equipment sales; honey sales; and colony production for beginning beekeepers. All of these services work hand in hand to provide resources and education for people wanting to keep bees but also to improve agriculture in Hawaii. In Hawaii, we have a very special environment that depends on pollinators to support native and non-native sources of food. My vision for Bird and Bee Hawaii is to offer a suite of services and educational experiences which can support both local and out-of-state tourism both virtually and in person.