It is my understanding that spraying of mosquitos will soon happen in
northeast North Carolina as well.  I just have a few thoughts to share and
want to first reflect on two different posts to this list:

Jim mentioned: "At least the state is making an effort to spray only when
bees will not be flying."

Back on the 13th of August Dave Green posted: "Also, in a year of concerns
for West Nile, we see one of the most important mosquito predators -
dragonflies, wiped out of an area in a few minutes.

At http://gardenbees.com/cotton%20spray/cottonspray.htm Dave vividly
documented what happens to non-targeted insects and other creatures when
spraying occurs - worthy of publication.

It saddens me and it makes me upset to see so many beneficial critters put
to death by unlawful spraying of insecticides.

After Floyd there was spraying of mosquitoes as well, but then there was
no west nile virus in either the Carolinas or Virginia at that time.
Mosquitoes have been around for millions of years, they are not going to
go away.

Soon, very soon, the water temperatures in the marshes and swamps along
the coastal plain of Virginia, and the Carolinas will be too cool for the
mosquito larvae to mature and hatch, perhaps the spraying of mosquitos
this late in the season will result in more harm than good, but then I am
not a biologist. I just hope that ample notice is given so that hives can
be covered, the feral hives will be left to fend for themselves.

It would be a shame if somehow some feral hives in the Dismal Swamp were
destroyed that were resistant to both trachael and varroa mites as well as
AFB;....  But that is highly unlikely.

Chuck Norton
Reidsville, NC

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