Hawaii County committee backs ordinance to expand beekeeping across zoning districts

The Hawaii County Policy Committee on Health, Safety and Well-Being on Aug. 6 voted 6-0 to send Bill 144 to the full County Council with a favorable recommendation. The ordinance would amend Hawaii County Code chapters 14 and 25 to establish generally accepted apiary management practices and to list apiaries as permitted uses across 17 zoning district classifications, including residential, agricultural, resort hotel, commercial, industrial, open and the Downtown Hilo Commercial district.

The measure’s sponsor, Councilmember Kirkowitz, told the committee the planning department and both the Windward and Leeward Planning Commissions reviewed the proposal and returned favorable recommendations. "We want to bring those folks into compliance," Kirkowitz said, adding the bill includes best management practices and that funding would be available "for education [and] awareness" once the ordinance passes to support novice beekeepers and reduce neighborhood nuisances.

Two beekeepers testified in support. Harry Holm, president of the Big Island Beekeepers Association, described inconsistencies in current county rules that sometimes treat honeybees like household pets and elsewhere with rules applied to piggeries, including a 1,000-foot setback from major roadways. Holm said that a queen breeder on the Kona side had to relocate after missing the 1,000-foot reference by roughly 20–30 feet. He also said Hawaii supplies "about 35, 40%" of queen bees to the U.S. mainland and estimated the local economic impact of bees at about $220,000,000. Holm urged the committee to support the bill to sustain queen breeders and local food sovereignty.

"By law, we cannot import any bees to our state or within the islands," Holm said during testimony, adding that import rules limit what materials may be brought into Hawaii.

Susan Collins, a beekeeper and instructor from Honokaa who operates a five-acre farm and offers bee tours and equipment sales, told the committee the ordinance would yield environmental, educational and economic benefits. "Honeybees play a crucial role in pollinating plants," Collins said, and she argued allowing beekeeping on smaller properties would increase pollinator populations, support biodiversity and provide hands-on learning for schools and community groups.

Councilmembers asked for clarifications before the vote. Councilmember Kimball asked that the bill explicitly require planting of noninvasive seasonal species and inquired whether the Vector Control Division (Department of Health) had been briefed and would be equipped to handle nuisance complaints. Kirkowitz said Vector Control and the Department of Agriculture had been part of the drafting conversations and that the code language was intended to make clear where nuisance reports should be directed.

Councilmember Galimba supported the proposal but cautioned that community outreach and beekeeping-led solutions — rather than formal enforcement alone — had often been the most effective way to resolve complaints such as bee droppings. Councilmember Leroy invoked the county’s right-to-farm protections and expressed strong support for the measure’s role in food sustainability.

The clerk recorded six ayes on the motion to forward the bill; council members Villegas, Inaba and Connelly Kleinfelder were excused. The bill will proceed to the full County Council for further consideration and possible amendment.

Authorities and next steps: the clerk read that Bill 144 would amend Hawaii County Code chapters 14 and 25 (1983, 2016 ed., as amended), and that the measure was introduced by Member Kirkowitz (communication no. 78631) and accompanied by letters from Mayor Mitchell D. Roth and the Windward and Leeward Planning Commissions. The committee chair invited the sponsor to bring housekeeping amendments and clarifications at a later iteration before final council action.