The current Bee Culture magazine (February 2013) contains a very informative article by Dr. Jeff Harris, Research and Apiculture Specialist at Mississippi State University, on the subject of pesticides and managed honeybee colonies. I highly recommend it to beekeepers who are concerned about potential exposure of their hives to pesticides. (Jeff will be one of our special guest speakers at the Bluegrass Beekeeping School in Frankfort, Kentucky on March 9th, 2013.)
There is much discussion these days in the media and among beekeepers concerning pesticides and their link to the increased colony losses that we have suffered in the last decade. Pesticide kills of honey bees is nothing new; Jeff relates a personal story of losing most of his hives to arsenite poisoning when he was a teenage beekeeper. Recently however, increased losses attributed to colony collapse syndrome and the inclusion of pesticides among its possible causes have raised the tempo of the discussion. As a beekeeper in Kentucky, and more particularly in the Central Kentucky Bluegrass region, I consider myself lucky that my hives are at a low risk from pesticide exposure because of the type of agriculture practiced by farmers around me. In the two or three mile radius extending from my hives, farmers raise mostly horses, cattle and grass. My bees forage in the uncultivated margins of this farmland, as well as on hillsides too steep to farm, and on ground covered in woodland and meadows. Many beekeepers living in other parts of the country, such as the Mississippi River bottomlands where Jeff lives and works, are not so fortunate. Beekeepers in those areas must be constantly on guard to protect their hives from pesticides.
My primary advice to beekeepers has always been to locate hives, whenever possible, away from fields of crops which will be treated with pesticides. If you are concerned about exposure to neonicotinoids (one of the new generation of pesticides) used on corn, don’t set your hives next to corn fields. This is obviously more difficult for beekeepers in areas where the prevalent type of agriculture is row crop farming – crops such as corn, soybeans or cotton – especially where pesticide applications are done aerially. Even in these situations, as Jeff reminds us, precautions can be taken. For instance, by situating hives in areas surrounded by trees, they can be partially shield from pesticide drift by the surrounding foliage.
Where avoidance is not possible, talking with neighboring farmers is clearly the first step. Ask what pesticides they will be applying (you can look up the label for any pesticides on the internet), and how they will be making applications. If you intend to place hives near crops such as soy beans, either to take advantage of their nectar or to provide pollination, your bees are at even greater risk, and these discussions and precautions are of even more importance. For more advice on reducing pesticide problems, Jeff cites How to reduce bee poisoning from pesticides, a Pacific Northwest Extension publication, as a resource.
Pesticides can be a real threat to our bees, but don’t just complain about them or about the government’s failure to do something. Be proactive at protecting your hives. Read Jeff’s article in Bee Culture and the extention guide he references. Learn from your neighbors what chemicals may be used around your apiaries, and what the risks and symptoms of exposure might be. Education and communication are your best safeguards.