Honey Bees [nalo meli]. Brought upon the ship Fanny Major from California were four boxes of bees. Currently they are in the garden of Dr. Hillebrand [Kauka Makaainana].

The doctor will attempt raising the bees, and should this progress, we will be blessed, because there are two good things done by bees. 1. They make honey, which is very delicious and valuable. 2. They make plants fruit, because when bees fly to flowers in search of the nectar within, it takes with them pollen from non-fruiting flowers to fruiting flowers and deposit it, and that is what helps fruiting. Therefore, all you people of Honolulu nei, do not kill or abuse the bees when you see them. Bees are a great help to all, without any harm.

[According to Senior Scientist and Cultural Advisor at The Nature Conservancy of Hawai’i, Sam Ohu Gon III, “In the big picture, in our modern agricultural world, honeybees are vital, but we should never forget our little-known native bees…”]

(Hae Hawaii, 11/18/1857, p. 134)

Ka Hae Hawaii, Buke 2, Ano Hou.----Helu 34, Aoao 134. Novemaba 18, 1857.