Your bees came through the storm remarkably well? The bees are looking quite good, hanging out the front, sassy as can be? There's lots of goldenrod, with asters right behind, which were basically unaffected by the storm? A fallen tree crushed a hive or two, but, except for the plague of yellow jackets trying to rob the bees, you are feeling pleased that the prospects look quite good, and at least the storm hasn't hurt you too bad in the beekeeping realm? A secondary disaster may be in store for you and you MUST take some forceful steps to avert it. In a couple of weeks you may find your hives changed into tiny, weak nucs, with only three or four frames of bees left, too weak to go out and get their winter provisions (goldenrod & aster). They may have frames of chilled brood, because there are too few adult bees to cover the brood on a cold night, and now they have to engage in carrying out the dead, instead of productive work. They may be too small to make a decent cluster to insulate themselves against winter cold, and the first cold spell will get the hive. Or they may even have stored away poisoned pollen to consume during the cold weather, when no fresh pollen is available. This is exactly what happened to me after Hurricane Hugo. Massive aerial applications were made, in violation of label directions, that severely damaged my business, and nearly wiped out wild pollinators in some areas. The times of application were set by guesswork, rather than any actual observations of when bees were foraging. Many of the applications were done on warm, sunny afternoons when bees were all over goldenrod, and the bees just dropped. There is no question that the areas where Hurricane Fran and other storms have dropped a lot of rain are having mosquito problems. But, insecticides used to kill adult mosquitoes are also toxic to bees, and label directions forbid application during the times bees are foraging. Obedience to label directions is required by law. The kicker is that the damage is so hard to prove afterwards, and it's nearly impossible to collect any compensation for damage, even though it was caused by an illegal act. Here in South Carolina, the enforcement people are basically on the side of the applicators. The enforcement is part of Clemson University. The big corportations that donate to it, have bought the best regulators money can buy. The regulators try their best to look the other way; they refuse to spot-check applicators; and we only get action, when a violation practically kicks the regulators in the teeth. This means that if you want any recourse, you've got to take preventative action. Don't wait until you get hit. Even if you are hit, the sprays used for mosquitoes tend to be quick acting, and most bees never make it home. There may be very few dead bees at the hives, to collect for evidence. Get some fresh tapes for your camcorder and conduct a Beekeepers' Neighborhood Watch. Document any violations, as they happen. But first document the health and strength of your hives. Pop the covers, and show the bees covering ten frames and spilling over the sides. Open up a few and show that there are eight or nine frames of brood in each one. This will give a basis of comparison, if you do get hit. Then, you'll have the sad job of filming the difference. But bend your efforts to make sure that you don't get hit. And document every step. Find out who is doing applications in your area, and talk to them. Point out that it is a violation to apply while bees are foraging, that there is a lot of goldenrod in bloom, and that bees WILL be foraging on that goldenrod. Offer to supply the applicator with a monitor hive so that he can determine, for sure, the times that the bees are foraging. Always make clear that pesticide use is not the problem, MISUSE is the problem. Applications made in compliance with label directions, will not cause significant damage to the bees. A monitor hive is a hive placed on the type of forage that will be within the application area. The applicator can easily pull up to the hive(s) and watch them from a closed vehicle. Goldenrod pollen is distinctive and easily spotted from this moderate and safe distance. You probably can set the hive somewhere right near the airport, so the applicator need only take a couple minutes to see if the bees are still working. It's likely that he will refuse the monitor hive. But document that you offered. Let him know that you will be out with a camcorder, recording applications, and he has nothing to worry about, if he KNOWS that bees are not foraging at the time of application. He may try to get YOU to protect the bees. Point out that if he obeys the label, no further protection is necessary. Is this his statement of intent to ignore the label? If he unwittingly misuses a pesticide, it is a violation, but wilful misuse makes it a criminal act, and he could be prosecuted. (And your discussion with him now is evidence that he is aware of the label directions, and perhaps has stated his intention to ignore them.) Also point out that the label refers to bees in general, not just those that are kept. Demanding that the beekeeper protect the bees, will not protect other pollinators. Furthermore, the demand that you protect the bees, is a seizure of your property, without compensation, in violation of your civil rights. If you are a commercial beekeeper, you may have to travel, hire labor, etc. And, if there are trees down, you may not even be able to get to your bees. You may have multiple sites endangered at the same time. Even if you are a backyard hobbyist, you'll have to take time off from work to "protect" your bees. (Read the Bill of Rights, which protects citizens from such government seizures.) It is the applicators legal responsibility to comply with the label. I have heard that North Carolina has an officially sanctioned system of beekeeper notification, which circumvents the label directions. This is NOT legal, and should be challenged. Individual states can make pesticide laws stricter, but not more lenient than the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act of 1976. They cannot do an "end run" around the label directions. After making sure your applicator knows the ropes, you may be a bit safer. But I've had many an applicator tell me they will obey the rules, and never give it another thought. So get out and do some monitoring yourself! Nighttime applications are not going to bother the bees, the materials used are not residual enought to have much effect on bees by the next day. Also, some blossoms may be closed. It is during the day, that you must be alert. If you see an application in progress, and bees are working, get the spraying filmed. Then immediately show bees foraging on goldenrod, or other flowers within the area that the application is being done. Record time and date, which can be done on most cameras. Get witnesses, if you can. Then call your pesticide regulators and report a suspected violation. Remember, it is only a "suspected" violation, until you ascertain that the material has the bee-protection label directions. It's possible the applicator could be spraying a mosquito larvicide, or even a cotton defoliant, either of which would not hurt bees, nor have label directions for bee protection. Many of us never report anything until there is a bee-kill, and often not then because we've gotten cynical about the paper shuffling and lack of action. In this case, you are not reporting a bee-kill, you are reporting a label violation. It is irrelevant whether you have your own bees nearby; you have established that there ARE bees. And by protecting all bees, you'll protect your own. You need to get general documentation, every chance you get, of the patterns of foraging times. Right now, here in South Carolina, they nights have been cool, with heavy dews, and bees don't get out much in the morning. By noon they are really hitting it, and they will continue until the late afternoon chill starts. Goldenrod is just coming to the peak time; it should be at peak by the first of the week. In another two or three weeks we'll be due for a frost, then it will be mostly asters for forage. They are quite frost resistant. I am going to do all I can to help inform and press for compliance with label directions, but it is going to require more beekeepers to be involved, to keep some areas of this storm zone from becoming barren of ALL pollinators, as it did here in South Carolina. Bumblebee populations in some areas went down to near zero, and are just showing some recovery now, after seven years! Of course cotton has come back, and misuse on cotton is another threat to them. It took me several years to build back my hive count. I had a lot of equipment lost as well, because the following year, I had no bees to fill my equipment. Comb was eaten by wax worm, or dried out to the point where bees just wouldn't use it. We beekeepers are providing a public service, just by being present. And if we do contract pollination by design, we are intensifying that service. We help feed wildlife as well. I am proud of my work. I refuse to be dumped on any longer. Will you get involved? [log in to unmask] Dave Green, PO Box 1200, Hemingway, SC 29554 Practical Pollination Home Page Dave & Janice Green http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html