Varroa mites have been found in a beehive near a runway at Hilo Airport, making four beehive sites with varroa mites found within a two-mile-long coastal area.

The mite has led to a decline of bee colonies worldwide. Farmers and beekeepers need the bees to pollinate crops, make honey and raise queen bees for export.

State agriculture department staff collected 2,277 bees at the airport hive Saturday and lab extractions Sunday found one mite.

Staff members on Sunday collected another 653 of the hive's bees, which were found to have four mites. Agriculture officials destroyed that hive.

So far, agriculture officials have found 43 mites from a total of about 33,000 bees collected. Varroa mites have not been detected in any managed hives in Hilo.

On Aug. 22, 12 mites were found in a swarm trap, then two mites in a wild hive Aug. 23 and 24 mites in a swamp trap Aug. 29.

"We are still optimistic that we can eradicate bee mites from Hawai'i Island," said Neil Reimer, manager of the department's plant pest control branch. "The relatively low number of mites we have found in relation to the number of bees that were collected, coupled with the close proximity of the detection sites are signs that the infestation may have been caught early."