Posted at 1:08 a.m., Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Christmas tree wasp inspections set for today
Advertiser Staff
Plant quarantine inspectors from the Hawai'i Department of Agriculture will conduct a full inspection this morning of two shipping containers of Christmas trees that were found to have the German yellowjacket wasps over the weekend.A total of four containers were sealed and held by inspectors on Sunday. Two of the containers will be unloaded in a containment area at HDOA's plant quarantine branch, 1949 Auiki St., near Sand Island, and each Christmas tree will be shaken and inspected. If cleared, the tree will be reloaded into another shipping container and the trees will be released for sale.
A third container will be inspected on Friday. Inspectors are awaiting word from the shipper of the fourth container to determine whether that container will be inspected or returned to the Mainland.
The wasp found on the trees is considered a threat because it lives at lower elevations than the yellow-jacket wasp already found in Hawai'i, and it prefers to make nests in homes and businesses, according to a state Department of Agriculture entomologist.
Hawai'i and other destinations require shippers of live plant materials to guard against bringing in invasive species. Christmas trees are inspected on farms by Oregon officials and by Hawai'i officials before they get to the retailer.
