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 http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html