If you are within the proposed mosquito application area of eastern North
Carolina, you may be able to help prevent a secondary and man-made disaster -
the loss of domestic and wild pollinators.  Farmers, gardeners, food
consumers, even wildlife, will be needing them again next spring for the
pollination of our food crops, and even for the seeds and berries that the
birds need.
 
    At 3 pm, the proposed time for the beginning of the application, please
find some flowers that bees like.  Goldenrod is ideal, since it is in full
bloom and is widespread along the roadsides.  See if bees are visiting the
flowers.  If they are visiting, it is in violation to apply the poison at
this time, and the bees will drop as they are hit by spray droplets.  Then
our environment will become more barren.
 
    This happened in South Carolina after Hurricane Hugo, and it wiped out
wild and kept pollinators in some areas, which still have not fully
recovered.
 
    As a citizen, you can help to force officials to make the application in
compliance with the law, which they have already indicated they will ignore.
 
    The pesticide is forbidden to be applied while bees are visiting the
flowers. This is not just bees that are kept, but ALL bees, as the directions
are clear.  It is pesticide MISUSE to apply a pesticide without obeying the
directions.
 
    If you have a camcorder, please take pictures of the bees foraging, and
show the plane making application at the same time.  We must hold
accountable, those public officials who think they are above the law.
 
    Please call your local county officials, especially your vector control
officer.  Tell them you'll be taping the application.  They all will try to
pass the buck back to the state, but the state is responding to requests by
the counties.  They will also try to explain away the label directions.  But
if enough people call, they will get the message.  They MUST obey the law.
 
   We are not against the program, the mosquitos are a real problem. But we
are not talking about pesticide USE, we are talking about pesticide MISUSE.
 
   Sadly, they could have sprayed all day yesterday, without doing damage or
being in violation, as the overcast kept the bees in their hives or nests.
 
   The Department of Health and Human Resources has clearly indicated their
intention to IGNORE the label directions, by demanding that beekeepers
"protect" the bees.  This is an impossible task, and it is a means to
circumvent the law, as expressed in the pesticide directions.
 
    There has been no notice of any monitoring by the department to see what
are the ACTUAL times of bee foraging; rather they have indicated (by
guesswork) that they will begin at 3 pm.  That is too early on a mild, sunny
day.
 
   As noted, they could have sprayed all day yesterday, without being in
violation.  Or they could spray at night, as is done in many areas of the
country.  But daytime applications require some kind of monitoring system to
see when they actually do go to visit the flowers.
 
    Please contact us, if you record evidence that can be used;  we may not
be able to prevent this loss, but we hope to prevent future violations.
 
    Here, For Your Information, is a copy of a letter sent to Dr. Levine, who
is the top man in the program (Raleigh)  this morning:
 
10-3-96
 
Dear Dr. Levine:
 
    This is a preliminary notice of a possible claim against you and other
state and county officials,  IFproposed mosquito applications are made
inviolation of label directions.  We are notifying you, on behalf of
beekeepers, that we intend to hold you accountable for any criminal pesticide
misuse, malfeasance, and violations of the Bill of Rights.
 
    By your demands that beekeepers "protect" the bees, you have publically
announced your intention to disregard the label directions. The label
directions, if obeyed, already protect the bees as they forage.  You have
also made public notice that you will do an environmental malfeasance by
destroying wild bees that have no human protection, also in violation of
clear label directions.
 
    Your demand that beekeepers "protect" the bees, rather than you complying
with label directions, is a seizure of property, without compensation, in
violation of the Bill of Rights.  Why should a commercial beekeeper be forced
to travel many miles, to "protect" bees that are already protected if you
obey the law, incur fuel costs, motel bills, labor, and other costs, if an
effort to do what is essentially impossible.  What about the guy who has
multiple sites? And some of the bees are still inaccessible anyway, due to
downed trees.  What about the hobby beekeeper who must stay home from his
regular job to "protect" his bees, so that you can circumvent compliance with
the pesticide label.  His boss might not like that!
 
   It is now 11:45 am.  The sun is breaking through and the temperatures are
mild.  Bees are beginning to forage on goldenrod and other flowers in the
proposed application area, and they WILL still be foraging at 3 pm, the
proposed time of commencement.  You have not indicated any way to actually
monitor the foraging times of the bees, so as to comply with the label
requirements.
 
    Sadly, the application could have proceeded all day yesterday, as the
overcast prevented the bees from foraging.  You missed that chance to comply.
 You could also comply with label directions by night time application, as
many areas do.
 
    But, if you intend daytime application, you MUST have a monitoring system
to see when bees actually quit foraging.  Not to do so is grossly negligent,
and in light of your announcements wilful and criminial, if the bees are out
visiting the flowers in the treatment area.
 
     Honeybees are particularly vunerable at this season.  It is too late for
the bees to repair the damage, and replace the lost bees.  When the first
cold weather comes, the weakened hives will succumb, as we saw, after
Hurricane Hugo.  In effect, a weakened hive is a dead hive.  All bees that
are out in the application area will drop, and be lost.
 
     We hope that you will be pursuaded to fully comply with the law, as
stated in the pesticide label directions, and protect ALL the bees, which are
our primary pollinators.  We will need them again next spring for our fruits
and vegetables.  Will they be gone, because you would not obey the law?
 
    Copies of this letter will be provided to the media.
 
    - From a victim of the illegal applications that followed Hurricane Hugo.
 
[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
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