From: Matthew Shepherd <[log in to unmask]> > We're looking for information about aerial spraying of malathion and the > impacts of drift. Does anyone have anything that might be relevant? Can > anyone suggest sources of information? Of course, daytime aerial spraying kills bees, the more that are outside the hives, the more are killed. I've seen the losses many times. I've also seen butterflies dying and dead after a spray. Dragonflies are conspicuous by their absense after spraying. What you won't find mentioned in the pesticide manuals is that daytime aerial spraying is usually a violation of the bee-protection directions. because bees are foraging on *something.* The pesticide police do their best to look the other way. Here is documentation of one such incident (which reflects a similar case to several others). Despite the wilful (therefore criminal) violation, the beekeeper involved has never recovered a cent for his losses. Nor has anything ever been done to mitigate native pollinator damage. http://members.aol.com/gardenbees/ Some will scoff at my years of observations in this regard. I'm not a scientist, and I know it's "anecdotal," but I have also had to make a living. I hope someday to find a funding source that will enable me to equip some hives with sensors, and to do a comprehensive, documented quantification of losses. It takes more time and resources than I've had so far. I believe that honeybees, which have some aid from humans to effect some recovery, generally fare better than wild bees, who have no help, no voice to speak for them. After the Hurricane Hugo sprayings in 1989 (dibrom, but similar in effect) wild bees were conspicuously absent for several years. As one who continuously looks at a lot of flowers to see what's foraging them, I can say with assurance that it took about a decade to recover natural pollinator populations. Aerial applications over wide areas scare me. The end result will be loss of pollinators and beneficial predators/parasites, wild swings in pest populations, and ultimately famine. With all the hype about West Nile, you can probably buy stock in the pesticide companies. That will take care of you, but you can shudder for your grandchildren. As an observant layman, I assure you that I would not be so passionate about this if I had not seen it, over and over, with my own eyes. Some years ago, the University of Florida had a bibliography of effects of spraying on non-target organisms on the web. I've looked for it since but have not been able to locate it. Perhaps you can. South Carolina activist James Irwin has documentation of the ineffectiveness and health hazards of malathion spraying for mosquitoes at his web site. He told me he is working on an issue about other environmental hazards. You may wish to contact him. His site is http://nospraynews.org Dave Green SC USA The Pollination Home Page: http://pollinator.com :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and other info --- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::