POSTED FOR INFORMATION/DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY: Beekeeper charges pesticide abuse, leaves Arkansas River Valley By Deborah Frazier Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer Colorado's largest beekeeper has pulled his winged pollinators out of the state's melon-growing region after suspected pesticide abuse killed about 10 percent of his troops last month. The decision potentially could cut Rocky Ford melon production 25 percent. "I don't want to hurt the melon growers, but I'm not going to put them back unless we can get protection," said Lyle Johnston of Rocky Ford. He estimated the loss at $30,000 to $40,000. Johnston put 1,000 hives at six locations near Fowler, in southeast Colorado, locations he has used safely for 20 years. An aerial sprayer applied pesticides to a nearby alfalfa field without warning Johnston. The sprayers are supposed to notify beekeepers of their plans so the hives can be moved. A hive contains 50,000 to 60,000 bees. "The bees were upset and mean," said Johnston, who said winds carried the toxic chemicals to his hives. "The bees attack you. I knew it was pesticides from the dead bees on the ground." In the Arkansas River Valley near Rocky Ford, growers sell about $2.6 million of cantaloupes a year and pick up extra money from honeydews and watermelons. Melon pollen is sticky and wet and not easily carried by wind, so growers rely on bees to pollinate. Growers credit Johnston and his bees with a 25 percent boost in yield. Statewide, bees add an estimated $17 million a year to crops. Johnston hauls his bees all over Colorado, California and New Mexico. "If he doesn't come, it could hurt us," said Gene Hirakata of Hirakata Farms, a major melon producer in Rocky Ford. "He was the only beekeeper left. We used to use insects and ladybugs, but sprays have killed most of them." This isn't the first time Johnston has lost bees and threatened to pull out. Last year, he said, he lost about 700 hives near Lamar when pesticide from a neighboring cornfield drifted into the hives. The culprit was never found. In 1996, he claimed another loss because of pesticides, but state tests found no trace of chemicals in his hives or bees. Johnston, who has about 2,800 hives, isn't the only beekeeper to complain about bee deaths. He's one of only 30 remaining commercial bee operations in the state. There are about 100 hobbyist beekeepers. In 1990, Colorado had 55,000 bee colonies and produced 3.5 million pounds of honey. By 1998, there were only 27,000 colonies producing 1.9 million pounds of honey. Pesticides aren't the only problem, said Chuck Hudson, head of market statistics at the state agriculture department. Beekeepers also are battling a parasite mite infection that killed about one-third of the bees in 1997. "But we can't blame it all on the mite," Hudson said. The mites have been around for 11 years and usually weaken the bees but don't usually kill them. Most bees in Colorado have mite infections, researchers have found. One factor that isn't a problem is the long-feared invasion of aggressive Africanized honey bees, sometimes called killer bees. Colorado's winters have kept them out of the state, he said. Last year, the Colorado Department of Agriculture received 37 complaints from beekeepers about pesticide deaths; 14 resulted in investigations. Janet Jackson, a department spokeswoman, said penalties for errant aerial applicators included warning letters, canceled licenses, fines and injunctions. "We'll do anything we can to stop any kind of pesticide misapplication," Jackson said. In 1997, the state agriculture department investigated conditions in 1,259 hives statewide, sampling dead bees, plants in the bee yard, mite treatment practices and chemicals in the hive. Montana cross-checked the results. The results indicated a few instances of pesticide poisoning, but also one case of bee starvation, several cases of severe overuse of the antibiotic used to treat mites and one instance of locoweed poisoning. Johnston said the agriculture department has tried to blame beekeepers for the deaths. Beekeepers have now limited the department to testing only for pesticides. So this year, agriculture experts gathered samples from Johnston's hives, vegetation in the area and plants in the field. Dead bees were also collected. No results are available, but the deaths are under investigation, she said. That's not enough for Johnston. "If I had killed $30,000 worth of cattle, I'd be behind bars," Johnston said. "Why is it that the applicators can get away with it?" Johnston and the other Colorado beekeepers aren't alone. "Pesticides have been a problem nationwide for years," said Troy Fore, executive director of the American Beekeeping Federation. "Farmers have to control pests, but there are chemicals that are less harmful. "And, there are ways of applying pesticides that are less harmful." June 20, 1999