BEE-L Archives

Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

BEE-L@COMMUNITY.LSOFT.COM

Options: Use Monospaced Font
Show Text Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Subject:
From:
Blane White <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 6 Dec 2001 11:51:21 -0600
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (18 lines)
Hi Everyone,
Jerry sent us some interesting comments on the contamination issue.   Beekeepers in parts of MN are having pesticide kill problems that appear to be due to spraying hybrid poplar plantations.  Much insecticide is used on these trees and much damage is being done to the beekeepers in the area.    These losses have been going on for about 4 - 5 years but it has taken the beekeepers that long to figure out what seems to be going on.

From Jerry's comments it appears that ND beekeepers are claiming contamination of wax combs.  This could be due to bees collecting pollen contaminated with long residue pesticides such as sevin which is pretty well documented to lead to major long standing problems including big queen problems and total colony losses that continue for months after the exposure.  It could also be due to beekeepers getting creative with mite controls.  If some creative mite treatments have gone on the beekeepers would be very reluctant to have samples taken for testing as the residue since that would likely lead to finding that the beekeeper misused some pesticide that caused the contamination.  In fact some have received fines for this type of misuse in ND in the past.

Bottom line:  It is easy to claim that there are problems going on but much more difficult to figure out what is really the cause of observed problems and creative mite treatments will often cause more damage than those who try them imagine.

Last year I was asking if gaucho treated corn seed could be causing problems that we are now reasonably sure are caused by sevin on the poplar trees and blooming understory plants.

FWIW

blane

******************************************
Blane White
MN Dept of Agriculture
[log in to unmask]

ATOM RSS1 RSS2