But on Saturday, thousands of new dead bees were in front of the hive.
What this means is in my mind one of two things:
1. Someone is spraying their garden on Thursday or Friday and the bees are getting into their flowers and dying. We've had enough rain that after the spraying, the rain washes off most of the poison, but the neighbor who sprays did it again this Thursday or Friday, bringing a whole new wave of thousands of deaths.
2. The bees are getting nectar from Carolina Jasmine which is blooming in force right now and is poisonous to bees.
The first is more likely than the second. If the second were the case, then there wouldn't be these gaps in bee deaths.
I'm sick about it - my best hive being brought to its knees buy someone's uncaring act of poisoning their garden.
Jeff and I took the whole hive apart again. No pesticide smell, but fewer bees, although this is quite a hive.
Hi Linda,
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear that Linda, man I wish people wouldn't spray at all. Or if they have to at least wait until the plant has stopped flowering.
Giving you a virtual hug across the oceans Linda… :(
Gary
I am so sorry to hear this Linda, and I too feel so bad about this sort of thing. Most people don't even consider the pollinators when spraying those deadly poisons on plants.
ReplyDeleteLinda, I am so sorry. I thought I had problems yesterday arriving at my beeyard just in time to see a nice swarm gather in the air and disappear into the distance...not so much, hey? Since your bees were likely foraging in the area, it may be helpful to engage the local garden centres/hardware stores who sell garden pesticides to host an information poster in their stores? Or have the local papers run an information/op ed piece?
ReplyDeleteThat is so sad. Too bad locking the bees in the hive on Thursdays and Fridays isn't practical.
ReplyDeleteI agree that an info posting on local paper and signs in the nearby neighborhoods might help.
I am one of the community gardeners (the bees are in a community garden) so I emailed the gardeners and asked that they talk to their neighbors - hope that helps. Meanwhile, more and more dead bees are there every day.
ReplyDeleteLinda, have you enough of a colony left to move them to safer quarters for a while to let them recover?
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry for your loss Linda.. I wish that more people would realize that although pesticides are "convenient" for the user... they are not target specific and they are devastating for millions of living things in their path.
ReplyDelete