HomeMy WebLinkAboutRES 219 Draft 01 2018-2020 -`��YOFp•'•
il.
.s.A° :'=.*�-
COUNTY OF HA AI`I W � .."�:'" STATE OF HAWAII
RESOLUTION NO. 21.9 19
A RESOLUTION TO ESTABLISH A HAWAII COUNTY APIARY STAKEHOLDER
WORKING GROUP.
WHEREAS, a global biodiversity report sponsored by the United Nations found that 40
percent of invertebrate pollinators, such as bees and butterflies, are facing extinction, which
means one in three bites of food people consume is at risk; and
WHEREAS, globally, bee populations are rapidly declining as a result of loss of habitat,
disease, parasites. pesticides, and natural disasters, which according to the Bee Informed
Partnership, resulted in a 40 percent decline in managed beehives on the continental United
States in 2018; and
WHEREAS, bees play a critically important role in Hawai`i's agriculture, pollinating 80
percent of the state's food crops, which according to the Hawai`i Apiary Program creates the
potential for $212 million in agricultural revenue; and
WHEREAS, Hawai`i's tropical weather, climate, and plant diversity, provide ideal
conditions for year-round beekeeping and a multitude of unique flavor profiles, whereby the
state's bees produce on average per colony, 93 pounds of honey, translating into $3.2 millionin
proceeds annually; and
WHEREAS, the Ha.wai`i Apiary Program estimates that the state exports $10 million a
year in queen bees, supplying about 25 percent of the queen bees in the United States, and 75
percent in Canada, making queen bee breeding a vital contributor to the local economy; and
WHEREAS,the importation of bees is not allowed in the State of Hawai`i, a prohibition
that is essential to keeping out the aggressive Africanized killer bees, which would seriously
impact human life, the environment, and the ability to pollinate food crops if they ever took a
foothold in the islands; and
WIIEREAS, local queen bee breeders play a significant role in providing bee stock that
is genetically diverse, more adaptive and resilient to new diseases, pests, and environmental
changes, and strengthen and increase hive efficiency; and
WHEREAS, rules pertaining to bees in the Hawai`i County Code, Chapter 4, regarding
animals, and Chapter 25, regarding zoning, are vague, outdated, and limiting, and as such,
negatively impact the island's beekeeping industry; and
WHEREAS, the County ordinances must be updated to more accurately reflect local
propagation and care of bees by backyard beekeepers and large-scale commercial apiarists, to
promote best management practices, and to encourage and foster the next generation of
beekeepers; and
WHEREAS, Section 92-2.5, subsection. (a) of the Hawaii Revised Statutes provides that
two council members may discuss between themselves matters relating to official board business
to enable them to perform their duties faithfully, as long as no commitment to vote is made or
sought and the two members do not constitute a quorum of their board; now, therefore;
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII that it
hereby establishes an Apiary Stakeholder Working Group to examine and address beekeeping
challenges at the industry and individual level through recommended updates to County
ordinances.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Council Member Ashley Kierkiewicz (Chair of the
Committees on Planning, and Government Relations & Economic Development), and Council
Member Herbert M. Richards III, (Chair of the Committee on Agriculture. Water, Land &
Environmental Management), will convene and co-chair this working group, to also be
comprised of representatives from the County of Hawai`i Planning Department and Corporation
Counsel, as well as representatives with an apiary focus from the State Department of
Agriculture, Department of Health, and the University of Hawai`i-Hilo. as well as a maximum of
six community members from around the island involved in a range of beekeeping, from
hobbyist and small scale to commercial and queen bee production, to be identified and invited by
Council Member Kierkiewicz and Council Member Richards.
2
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group will be dissolved one year from
the date this resolution is adopted by the Council, and will meet at least three times and submit a
report to the Council in February 2020 with findings and recommendations on a bee ordinance,
and suggested administrative rules, if necessary and deemed appropriate by the working group.
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the County Clerk shall transmit a copy of this
resolution to the Honorable Harry Kim, Mayor; Michael Yee, Director, Planning Department;
Joseph Kamelamela, Corporation Counsel; Stacey Chun, Entomologist, Hawai`i Department of
Agriculture; Eric Honda, District Health Officer, Department of Health; and Dr. Lorna Arita-
Tsutsumi, Professor of Entomology, University of Hawai'i-Hilo.
Dated at- Kona I Iawai`i, this 21st day of August _ , 20 19
INT i?CED BY:
COUNCIL MEMBER, COUNTY OF HAWAII
COUNTY COUNCIL, —_� _ _ ROLL CALL VOTE
County of Hawaii _ _ _AYES NOES ABS EX
Hilo, Hawaii ' CHUNti X
DAV Ii) X
I hereby certify that the foregoing RESOLL;I IOti w as by I OF,FXthe vote indicated to the right hereof adopted by the COUNCIL,of tape i-- — - - -`-----
adopted I-KLELNFELDER X
County of Hawaii on August 21, 2019 AL
�_`�
KIERt.It;\h-"IC7 X
'1EL LOY X
ATTEST: LPOi1FX1FP — X
RI4:.;i 1ARDS X
X
- ---- - --__L 7 I 0 — 2 0 -
C-364/AWEEMC-7
00k
imobto Lam'K , AIRPERSON&: PRESI‘ING OFFICER RESOLUTION NO 219 9