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Honeybees have established homes in the crossties at Koko Crater stairs. Read more

Honeybees have established homes in the crossties at Koko Crater stairs.

The popular trail in Hawaii Kai, which involves a climb up 1,048 steps made of crossties to a summit and panoramic view, remains a popular, daily draw among residents and tourists alike — and now, honeybees.

Jane Howard, president of the Kokonut Koalition, a group advocating for the renovation of the stairs, said the bees were first spotted by regular hikers at the “bridge,” a small section of steps about halfway up, as early as July.

The original site was on the right side of a hollowed- out step at the bridge, on the way up. Now there appears to be one on another step where the bridge starts, at bottom left, where bees are going in and out of a crack.

The bees have recently become more active, and Howard wants to inform the public, particularly those who are allergic to bee stings.

“It’s just been going on awhile,” she said. “Some people walk through them, and some have been stung. They need to relocate them.”

The Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation has put in a request to remove the bees, according to spokesman Nathan Serota. In the interest of public safety, Serota said the department hopes to issue a removal contract soon.

This is not the first time that bees have occupied the popular Koko Crater stairs. In 2014, bees also established a home at the same area, prompting safety concerns and a Tripadvisor review warning.

Honolulu City Council also is considering a resolution to provide $100,000 to fix erosion and wear at the stairs, which were formerly a tramway installed by the military during World War II. Many of the ties are hollowed out, cracked, or missing.

The bees, however, did not seem to bother the majority of hikers on Wednesday afternoon. Some hikers wearing headsets climbed right past the bees buzzing below, without even noticing they were there.

Alexandra Long of Los Angeles said she simply walked around the bees. She said bees are part of nature, after all, and a possible encounter to expect on a hike.

“They didn’t seem threatening or aggressive at all,” she said. “I think if people are going to be out in nature, they’re going to have to bring an EpiPen,” referring to a dose of epinephrine, commonly used for allergic reactions.

Jeremy Todd, a first-time hiker on the stairs, however, was caught off guard when more than a dozen bees buzzed around him as he crossed the bridge.

He said he would have appreciated a sign or advance warning, especially since the drop below the steps was enough to concentrate on without the added distraction of bees. Fortunately, he did not get stung.

Darcy Oishi, biological control section chief for the state Department of Agriculture, said the Koko Crater stairs are a good habitat because the ties provide a place that is protected, while allowing space for the colony to grow inside, and the bees are surrounded by nectar and pollen.

These are European honeybees, considered an invasive species in Hawaii. They have been in the isles since 1857, said Oishi, and are likely here to stay.

“They only have a certain amount of choices,” he said. “When they decided to make house, there might have been a quiet period or low traffic, or there could have been a shortage of other alternatives.”

His advice for hikers is to stay out of the way of the bees, which have a distinct flight path. He also advised using slow and deliberate movements when passing by the bees.

It is common for people to be in the bees’ path during their dedicated foraging routes without knowing it, he said. Sometimes, bees try to head-butt someone in their flight path, and nudge them to get out of the way. It’s best to give bees the right of way.

“Bees basically have their own FAA (Federal Aviation Administration),” he said. “They know how they want bees to fly, and if you get in their way, bad things happen.”

Also, he does not recommend swatting them away, or harming or killing one because a chemical alert would put the other bees in defense mode.

“Basically, if you attack a bee, which is what swatting a bee is, be prepared to deal with all the bee’s sisters,” he said.

Kokonut Koalition social media director Lena Haapala said the group supports relocating the bees, not exterminating them.

“We need bees in our world,” she said. “They help pollinate our fruits and veggies. They’re useful. We don’t want them killed. We want them removed.”

For the most part, people are able to walk around them without incident, but those who are sensitive or allergic might want to use caution, particularly first-timers and visitors. They might also want to know there is a bypass, or a path around the bridge, away from the bees.

Last month, bees stung a group of visitors and staff members at the historical Iolani Palace, sending one man to the hospital and resulting in its closure for a few days.

On Wednesday Hawaii County also closed Spencer Beach Park in North Kohala after a large kiawe tree collapsed, resulting in bees flying around. The park was closed to all day-use activity on Wednesday, and camping permits canceled until further notice.

Christina Mogren,assistant researcher of entomology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, said all of these bee activities are not unusual.

“Honeybees are ubiquitous,” she said. “They’re everywhere in the state. Any place they can establish a hive, they will.”

There are specialists in the state who can remove the bees at Koko Crater and place them into a beehive managed by a beekeeper, according to Mogren.