The first in a series of four "Bee Aware" presentations took place on Friday September 12th at the Maui Electric auditorium. These presentations are being presented as a free service of Maui Aloha Aina Association in conjuction with their up coming 2008 Maui Body and Soil Conference on Maui. See www.MauiGrown.org for more information.
There was a great turn out of at least 60 people to hear a talk by a local Bee keeper Dennis Morihara of Tropical Apiaries. Judging from the long question and answer session at the end of the talk, it's quite apparent that if the life of bees was not at the top of most people's minds before, it's really causing a buzz now.
As important as the move towards good, nutrient dense organic food is, it's very much apparent that without the pollinators such as the Honey Bee, there isn't much hope to produce the quantities of food we need for our populations.
When Dennis Morihara brought up the point that it takes as many as 250,000 flower visits for a bee to create 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey and that 1/12th is what is used within a single cell of a honey comb, it has to make you realize that there is just no way for humans to replace the work of the pollinators.
It is very important that each and everyone of us do some part to help.
That can be as simple as:
- Choosing bee friendly plants for landscaping or gardening.
- Planting trees to help abate the heavy winds that blow on Maui.
- Keeping in touch with our government officials to let them know that we need to support the farmers that are willing
to produce the nutrient dense high quality healthy foods
that Maui should be eating.
Beyond just having good healthy foods and growing a little extra to help those who can't, it can go along way towards improving our own food security and ability for us to sustain our population on our island.
For more on Maui Food Security, please visit www.MauiFoodSecurity.com.
*Picture courtesy of Dennis Morihara and Tropical Apiaries.
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