Each state should have someone to notify, even with budget cuts.  Most  
will be housed in your State Dept of Agriculture, call the Director's  office.
 
Each state also has a State Beekeepers Association.  If this hasn't  been 
done this yet, now would be a good time for someone in the State  Association 
to run to ground the appropriate responsible state  government person, 
contact information for the state and POST it for all of  the state's 
beekeepers.  If all else fails, go to the Governor's office and  file a complaint.
 
Finally, by far the best strategy is for the beekeepers to maintain  
communications with their local growers. 
 
I realize that takes a bit of leg work, since its not uncommon for growers  
to RENT widely dispersed fields.  However, in the past three years,  I've 
done work in four states as well as in Canada.  In each case, I needed  to 
run to ground the local growers and the local beekeepers, both for access to  
fields and for information about products used, etc.  It took a bit of  leg 
work, but it wasn't that hard to do - and that wasn't even my own  state.  
Usually took a day or two of phone calls, or going to an office and  sitting 
down with the grower, local seed company tech reps, etc.
 
COMMUNICATION is key.  Take some time to get to know your farmers and  
growers, and your state government people.  Invite them to your annual  
beekeeper meetings.  
 
It's usually far easier to get someone locally to come out in a timely  
manner, than it is to find someone in the federal government to fly out to look 
 at the incident.  
 
Also, this should be obvious, but in light of the SUDDEN increase in  
reports, remember, not all bee losses are caused by pesticides.   Pests, 
diseases, and sometimes just gettiing behind on bee management, such as  keeping 
varroa in check or getting food to the bees when they need it can  produce bee 
kills ranging from minor to severe.  For example, at this time  of year bees 
are especially vulnerable to nutritional stress, starvation.   In the 
spring in many  of our northern states - winter stores mostly gone,  colonies are 
caring for lots of brood, weather turns cool or rainy, and bees can  
suddenly go into a starvation event, which can rapidly produce dead bees on the  
ground.  And ,although some main disagree, I've also investigated bee kills  
where the issue was that there were no 'smoking gun' levels of pesticides,  
but dead bees on ground were loaded with Nosema ceranae.  And, years ago in  
tunnels, I saw bees from colonies heavily infested with varroa march out 
the  entrance, move out some yards, and then die in a pile.  I was shocked 
when  I first saw this in a tunnel, then saw it in others.  Not a trickle of  
bees, but the whole population suddenly marching out without flying, then 
dying  in front of the hives.
 
So, report the incident, but follow up with someone taking samples and  
getting them analyzed.  Although I've seen lots of bee kills from  pesticide, 
starvation, and mites and diseases, I've found that its not always  possible 
to tell WHICH is the cause, based just on the observing dead and dying  
bees, or dwindling colonies.  I may have my opinion as to what happens, and  I'm 
right more often than not, but there are no definitive, visible signs.   
Even if the problem IS a pesticide, it may not be the one you suspect.  
 
Jerry
 

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