It’s painted a flashy white — as many beehives are — and inside a “queen excluder,” a screen preventing the queen bee from laying eggs in the honey, is installed up top.
But there’s nothing buzzing — or stinging — inside the life-sized, mock-langstroth beehive sitting front-and-center in the University of Hawaii at Hilo’s agricultural farm in Panaewa.
The new hive replica is instead meant to be a learning tool. At an unveiling earlier this month, students and faculty said they hope it better shows the community — specifically children touring the farm — what it’s like to be an actual honey-producing insect.
“Telling them and showing them are two different things,” said 22-year-old Kawai Genovia. “It’s big enough so that little children can go inside and feel what it’s like to be a bee in a hive — so that they get a better understanding.”
Genovia, along with at least three other UH-Hilo students, spent weeks spearheading the hive replica as a project requirement for their advanced beekeeping course. It’s constructed to large-scale dimension of an actual langstroth hive — the type of hive commonly used in beekeeping. It’s made entirely from recycled farm wood, minus the roof, Genovia said, and represents the labor of many students.
“None of us in the class are really skilled at woodwork so it’s not the perfect hive,” Genovia said. “But as a project we think we did pretty well.”
The replica is located down the road from dozens of actual hives. In 2011, renowned chef Alan Wong teamed up with UH-Hilo to launch the “Adopt-a-Beehive” program, which allows community members to sponsor a student-tended hive and receive periodic photos and updates.
Thanks to all the hives, at least a half-million bees are flying around the 110-acre farm at any given time, according to Lorna Tsutsumi, UH-Hilo College of Agriculture faculty member. The replica gives visitors and touring student groups a chance to safely experience a bee’s life — from a distance.
“This whole garden is designed to be an educational experience,” Tsutsumi said. “(The hive replica) is meant to say, ‘OK, you’ve seen the bees, now, let’s put you inside to see what it feels like — here’s what they’d use as their house.”
Honeybee-pollinated plants are vital in food production, and yet bee die-offs in recent years have experts concerned. One federal report of beekeepers released earlier this week showed higher-than normal winter colony loss rates which some say could be due to mites.
For the students, the beekeeping courses are plain fun. At the unveiling earlier this month, Genovia and student Mike Dowsett donned protective clothing to check on their hives and collect honey. It’s meticulous process they conduct at least once per week.
Both say they took their first beekeeping course on a whim, but since have grown to love it. They’re now working toward a beekeeping certificate, which UH-Hilo offers to “recognize the level of achievement in beekeeping” and to “assist (students) in future career positions,” according to the program’s website.
The certificate is achieved after taking five courses, largely taught at the farm.
“You tell your friends all these things about bees and they’re like, ‘Whoa, I never would have guessed,’” Genovia said.
“(Honey) is such a common product when you think about it, and knowing where your food comes from is really cool.”
