Randy said:
 
 
"You hit the nail on the head, Lewis!  There are plenty of clear  pesticide
kills, but also other kills unrelated to pesticides (I experienced  one in
one of my yards this early summer)."

I concur.  I've seen several bee kills that look like what we  used to call 
pesticide, but the chemical analyses don't show any smoking  guns.   I do 
see heavy Nosema, virus, and often varroa associated with  these piles of 
dead bees.  Of course, there are some cases that are  still clearly pesticide.

 

There has also been a shift in reporting.  When we had problems with  
carbamates, OPs, chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides, a PILE of dead bees was  
called a kill.
 
Those piles of dead bees fortunately are fewer and farther  between.  But 
now we've got some inspectors and some beekeepers  calling a few scattered 
bees in front of a hive a KILL.  It appears  that memory fades fast.
 
I don't mean to trivialize this issue - insecticides are designed to kill  
insects, and misuse can lead to problems.  But, what is being called a bee  
kill these days often is not what used to be called a bee kill.
 
Jerry


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