How is it with all our human verbal skills we have so much less quality communication that the beloved honey bees? Learning about bees communication this week, I was struck by how great they are at communicating throughout the colony that may number from 20,000 to 60,000 individuals.

They take care of the colony, the queen, the environment and give selflessly to others. Their communication through out the colony is faultless. How many of us could say that about our small family units? The bees share with all the other workers about where to find the best nectar and pollen sources. They communicate that information through a bee dance that triangulates the exact location, even factoring in the movement of the sun. They also share a sample of the product they are so excited about. No selfishness here. In the pollen and nectar gathering they can mark the flowers as “used” so another bee does not have to waste their time. The bees even communicate with us in an auditory way. They emit a happy hum or if they have lost their queen they give off the “queenless roar” in discontent. These wonderful creatures have so much to teach us and I am blessed to be in their classroom.

 

Written by Christine Young

This project was funded by a grant from the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program.

Richard’s long experience as an organic beekeeper and creator of a socially/environmentally responsible honey business, combined with Jenny’s intuitive nature and obvious passion for nurturing bees, made for a fascinating and informative first class.

The relationship between bees and humans is a long one, as a 6,000 year old cave painting in Spain attests. A thin ochre figure reaches for a round hive in a tree as bees swarm. The image made me smile… golden sweetness upon the tongue is worth the pain of getting stung!

I was amazed by the utter complexity of life within the beehive. The female workers, comprising 90% of the population, live from 3 to 6 weeks and display a very orderly division of labor. As soon as a worker bee emerges from her cell as a newly hatched adult, she begins cleaning cells of debris, graduates a few days later to covering larval cells with beeswax, and ends her nursery duties with brood tending. Having reached a certain level of maturity, she now attends the queen, then shortly changes jobs again to receive incoming nectar from her sisters. Subsequent chores include packing pollen, comb building, ventilating the hive to maintain an ideal temperature of 97 degrees, and guarding against invaders. Only after fulfilling her share of each of these tasks does she leave the hive for her first day of foraging! I can hear the children already: “You mean she can’t just choose her favorite job and do it forever?!” What a lesson in community sharing and responsibility!

Equally fascinating is the use of pheromones, or chemical scents the bees produce to communicate with one another. I was surprised to learn that a bee will leave a pheromone on a flower it has just visited to alert others that the nectar is all used up. As if by magic, the pheromone dissipates when the flower’s nectar supply returns! Indeed, there is much magic surrounding bees, which Richard and Jenny openly acknowledge – a magic that continually adds to the awe and joy of beekeeping.

Written by Monika Hennig

This project was funded by a grant from the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program.

Volcano Island Honey Co. (VIHC) was recognized for its ongoing commitment to social and environmental principles in business as the winner of this year’s Kuleana Award. The Kuleana Award is presented each year at the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce Kuleana Green Business & Environment Conference. VIHC is a member of Green America and the Kuleana Green Business Program- both programs which screen businesses for social and environmental practices.

A Leader in Triple Bottom Line Businesses on the Big Island and the State of Hawaii
Richard Spiegel started Volcano Island Honey Company as a hobby in the late 1970’s and formalized the business around 1993. Before anyone on the Big Island even heard of “triple bottom line” business, Richard was doing it. I think it can safely be said that Volcano Island Honey Company is the original “triple bottom line” business of the Big Island, and maybe even in the state. Even though VIHC is a small company, from the beginning Richard was passionate about caring for employees and the community, making as little environmental impact as possible, improving the environment whenever possible, making a profit, and sharing the profits with employees and the community through non-profit donations. He has codified these practices into the business and calls Volcano Island Honey Co. a business with an “Uncommon Philosophy.” Read more about the specific environmental and socially responsible practices of Volcano Island Honey Co.


An Environmental Advocate
Richard has taken a leading role in the beekeeping industry to advocate for safe and non-toxic treatment of varroa mites. The general trend is to use toxic chemicals in hives, which the mites eventually develop resistance to. This is bad for bees, people, environment and the agricultural industry that relies on bees. He could care just about his own business, but he has spent many precious hours fighting for all the bees, the environment, and our agriculture industry. Richard has also worked for years to preserve the Puako Kiawe forest instead of having it developed into a golf course. The Puako Kiawe forest, located on the South Kohala coast on the Big Island, is one of the largest contiguous kiawe forests in the state, is a major forage habitat for bees, and a potential source of firewood, and other value-added products. VIHC, in partnership with Neil Logan, has developed a conservation and sustainable management proposal for the forest with the intention of identifying a philanthropic investor who can take advantage of the tax benefits of a conservation purchase.


Most people think of kiawe as a junk tree, but VIHC knows better. VIHC has invested over ten thousand dollars into the study of the community economic and environmental benefit of kiawe. Did you know that the bean makes a high protein flour? It is a delicious cooking flour and could help contribute to island food self-sufficiency!


Posted by Andrea Dean.