By Glenn I. Teves, County Extension Agent, UH CTAHR Cooperative Extension Service
The relationship between humans and honeybees is ancient, as demonstrated by cave paintings in Spain, South Africa, and Nepal, depicting honey hunters collecting honey from wild hives. The honeybee was introduced to Hawaii in 1857, but the accidental introduction of the Varroa mite in 2007 puts this relationship in jeopardy and is one example of Hawaii’s vulnerability to invasive species.
The Varroa mite (Varroa destructor) is one of the most serious pests of honeybees and is associated with the spread of viruses and the decline of honey bee colonies on the mainland. And it’s only a matter of time before it destroys all feral honeybee colonies in Hawaii. On the island of Oahu alone, over 90 percent of the wild colonies have been wiped out and it has now moved to the Big Island, starting in Hilo. Visual checks of feral honeybees in Ho`olehua and Mo`omomi have not found the Varroa mite to date.
The mites attack both adult bees, and also larvae in the hive. Although honeybees in Hawaii are crosses between German, Italian, and Carnolian bees, the honeybees on Molokai appear to be a special disease resistant strain, first brought in around 1898. They show resistance to a disease called Foul Brood, which wiped out honeybees on most of the islands starting in 1908.