Waldemar writes:  “I think the pesticides are getting into my goldenrod 
hives with the autumn pollen - I don't know if the bees work the farm 
fields themselves or if the pesticide fumes carry to the goldenrod fields.  
This is the only possible explanation I can come up for my goldenrod hives 
having a very short fuse.”

A reasonable hypotheses, Waldemar, but I’ll bet if you really thought hard 
about it you could come up with other possible explanations.  What about 
the stress from being moved?  Does the defensive behavior in these hives 
persist or does it go away after a while?  I would think that if it were 
simply a matter of pesticides there would be other problems besides just 
being ornery.  Have you considered getting the pollen and maybe the honey 
tested, perhaps even before during and after the goldenrod flow?  Where are 
these bees getting their water?  If it’s from local runoff you might get 
that tested too.  You definitely want to know if pesticides are getting 
into your hives.

Steve Noble    

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