Saturday mornings don’t involve sleeping in for Keison M., a junior on our Līhu‘e campus. Instead, he’s up early and off to the Kaua‘i Community College apiary, where the air hums with the collective energy of more than 30 active hives.
For the last year and a half, Keison has immersed himself in the world of beekeeping, a craft he picked up alongside his father.
At the apiary, Keison’s work is a blend of observation and action. A typical day involves checking the health of the colonies — identifying hives that are struggling and determining which ones are ready to harvest. One of the more technical aspects of his role is marking the queen.
“We look for the queens, put them in a small tube, and use a special paint pen to mark them,” he says.
The color matters; this year, the international standard is white, a coding system that allows beekeepers worldwide to track the age of a queen. While the work is rewarding, it isn’t without its stings.
“You get stung every time,” Keison says. “They can even crawl up through your pant legs.”
Despite the occupational hazards, Keison has developed a keen eye for the biology of the hive. He recalls a standout day a few months ago when he discovered three queens in a single hive — a rare find.
Bees create multiple queen cells to maximize their chances, he says, and the newly hatched queens typically fight for dominance.
“The bees know when a queen is producing less as she gets older,” he says. “They’ll eventually replace her to ensure the hive survives.”
Keison has translated these outdoor experiences into course credit and professional growth via HTA’s Career-Based Learning program. Now a skilled beekeeper, Keison often shows newbies the ropes, from salvaging frames to managing pests like hive beetles. His passion has already followed him home, where he tends to his own bees and plans to sell honey and wax.
While Keison intends to apprentice under his father in plumbing after high school, the lessons learned at the apiary — patience, ecological stewardship, and the value of hard work — are already part of his foundation.
