From:   [log in to unmask] (Bill Mares):
 
<<     My five hives are about to be surrounded by an
18-hole golf course.  Should I move them for
fear of pesticide/herbicide applications?  Any advice or experience
is welcome.>>
 
     First I would like to caution you about "running" because a pesticide
may be used.  As long as we beekeepers keep running, the territory which is
"safe" for us keeps on closing down.  Eventually, there will be no place to
go.  I have run from pesticides in the past; they followed me, and I can no
longer run.
 
    Secondly, herbicides will not hurt bees directly, though they do reduce
the food supply.
 
    Thirdly, and most important, you must keep in mind that no significant
damage will occur to you unless the applicator breaks the law.  Materials
(insecticides) that are hazardous to bees have prohibitions on the label
which protect the bees *As They Forage.*
 
     It is important that you get that distinction, and that the pesticide
applicator gets that distinction.  There is no prohibition against
application over the beehives.  But applications on flowers that bees are
visiting are illegal. And that is where the damage typically occurs.
 
    This means the applicator has a responsibility to check to see if bees
are foraging, before he applies any chemical with bee directions on the
label.  The label directions are the law for that particular chemical.  If
there are bee directions; if there is bloom in the area; and if he doesn't
check bee activity; he is negligent.
 
    You would be wise to do some preparatory work here with the groundskeeper
at the course.  In so doing you will alert him to the presence of bees
nearby, and that you know the pesticide laws.  Without being nasty, you
should be assertive enough to let him know that he cannot kill the bees or he
will be liable.
 
    If the course is kept entirely in grassed sod, with no broadleaf plants
at all, you will not have any problem.  The bees will not be present in the
area, since there is no feed for them.
 
   The problem occurs if there is clover in the grass seed mixture.  This, of
course will not be on the greens, but may be in some outlying areas.  When
the clover blooms, insecticide applications will kill bees, because they will
be coming to the clover.  This is where your applicator is responsible to
check, to see if there is clover bloom.
 
   At this point, he has two choices to comply with the law.  He can apply a
non-residual material (the label makes it clear whether it is toxic by direct
contact only, or by residual action, too), during the times when bees are not
actually visiting the flowers.
 
   Or he can get rid of the flowers, by herbicides or by close mowing just
before insecticide applications.
 
   Another problem which can occur, is not exclusive to golf courses, but the
country clubbers can usually get a high level of mosquito spraying in the
area, because they have pull.
 
   Make sure the vector control folks have the same clear understanding.
 There are many non-residual mosquito control materials, so timing the
applications for after the bees are done foraging, or before they start
foraging will comply with the label law.
 
    I monitor pesticide applications with a camcorder.  This can show if
bloom is in the treatement area, and if bees were foraging.  Applicators are
starting to get the message, that they have to obey the law.  They cannot
apply insecticides while bees are visiting the flowers.
 
   Get copies of the labels of all the materials that could be used.  Read
the bee directions carefully.  Know them backwards and forwards.  Then you
can stand up, when you encounter applicators who have strange ideas, and
enforcers who don't want to enforce.
 
   A common approach is to call you and demand that you "protect" the bees,
so that he can spray.  If you call in sick at work, and drop everything else
to go babysit your bees, so that he can spray in violation of the label, then
SHAME on you!     You just make it harder for anyone to get universal
protection for all bees.
 
   Point out that the label directions list bees under "Environmental
Hazards," which recognizes them as an environmental resource - our
pollinators.   Thus the label refers to all bees, not just kept honeybees.
 The label protects bumblebees, wild honeybees, solitary bees.  And it is the
applicators responsibility to obey the label, not yours to run everytime he
calls.
 
    I could run a hundred miles to answer such a call.  When I get there, the
weather changes, the wind comes up and the spray is postponed.  I wind up
sitting in a motel, waiting.......    Or I move bees away from one
application, and get hit by another in the new site.........
 
    It is a bit of a nuisance to the pesticide applicator because he actually
has to LEARN a bit about bees, and he has to TIME his applications.  But the
only way bees will be protected is if he OBEYS the law.
 
    Bill, we beekeepers have got to stand up.  -Not to be nasty, but to
protect one of the most important environmental resources we have.  Hold your
head up and be a man.  You have a charge to keep.
 
[log in to unmask]    Dave Green,  PO Box 1200,  Hemingway,  SC
29554        (Dave & Jan's Pollination Service,  Pot o'Gold Honey Co.)
 
Practical Pollination Home Page            Dave & Janice Green
http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html
 
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