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Hawaiian Bees Added to Endangered Species List

Matthew Shepard, Xerces Society
Matthew Shepard, Xerces Society

It’s a historic but sobering event for Hawai‘i’s native bees.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has added seven species of Native Hawaiian yellow-faced bees to the endangered species list.  It’s also the first time any bees in the US have been added to the list.

Scott Black is the Executive Director of the Xerces Society, which fought to get federal protection for the bees.  He says the loss of habitat and invasive species are the main reasons for the decline.  Black says people can help by planting more native flowers, and supporting organic agriculture, which reduces the amount of pesticides being sprayed into the environment.  

The rule goes into effect later this month. In addition to the bee, 39 other native plant species, along with the band-rumped storm-petrel, the orange black Hawaiian damselfly, and the anchialine pool shrimp will be added to the endangered species list. 

Nick Yee’s passion for music developed at an early age, as he collected jazz and rock records pulled from dusty locations while growing up in both Southern California and Honolulu. In college he started DJing around Honolulu, playing Jazz and Bossa Nova sets at various lounges and clubs under the name dj mr.nick. He started to incorporate Downtempo, House and Breaks into his sets as his popularity grew, eventually getting DJ residences at different Chinatown locations. To this day, he is a fixture in the Honolulu underground club scene, where his live sets are famous for being able to link musical and cultural boundaries, starting mellow and building the audience into a frenzy while steering free of mainstream clichés.
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