Bee rescuers answer the call across Oahu while asking residents not to spray

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – With Father’s Day coming up this weekend, we went holoholo with a father and son who are all about saving our natural pollinators.

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Peter Morrow and his son, Jason, are the owners of Honey Bee Rescue.

The father-son duo recently rescued bees from an irrigation valve in Ewa Beach and from the middle of a road in Papakōlea, where the queen was run over.

When they found the queen, they placed her in a cage to act as an attractant.

“We were able to put her into a cage…to lure all the rest of the bees off of the middle of the road and get them into the vacuum bucket the no-kill bee vac,” said Jason.

During peak season, Peter says the workload is nonstop.“We handle 6 to 8 calls a day… and we do cutouts, we do 60-foot lifts underneath overpasses to get the bees out,” said Peter.

Some days stretch late into the night. After removals, they leave boxes behind so returning bees can find the colony — then come back later to pick everything up.“He doesn’t come home till 12, 1 a.m. sometimes,” said Peter.

Peter says a family trip to Oregon about seven years ago sparked his interest.

“I started looking at some videos that night, literally ordered an empty bee box to be shipped back to Hawaii that night,” said Peter Morrow. “No experience, nothing.”

He connected with local mentors, Ken and Penny Harmeyer and learned by doing. Peter remembers his first removal vividly — a large compost bin packed with a hive.

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“It was such an adrenaline rush…”

Peter still has that first hive.

“Seven years later, I still have that hive till today, a couple 100 pounds of honey out of that one hive every year.”

Jason, a professional dancer who worked alongside his wife, Madisyn, said the pandemic forced a pivot when entertainment jobs disappeared.

“My only source of income at that time, because that was kind of the whole plan, was like, do dance and do that…entertainment industry closed down completely,” Jason said. “And so, he’s like, want to make some extra money doing the bees? I’m like, sure, I need it.”

“And since then, it’s been good fun. I’ve been self-employed now and now my wife is full-time with us and it’s great. I get to spend every day with my best friend.”

Their message to residents: don’t panic — and don’t spray.

“If bees show up at your house, don’t hesitate to call us,” said Peter. “We will come out, do an assessment, figure out what we got to do to save the bees. Do not spray them with chemicals or water.”

“Just let them settle in and let us come out and do our job so that nobody gets hurt and we can save our natural pollinators that we need for these islands. Thank you for saving the bees.”

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You can reach Honey Bee Rescue (808) 725-1699.