moroe county mosquto control killing my bees

[captcatfish]

I,m new to bee keeping i have caught 5 swarms since june 2011 i mange to have 4 hives now i live in the fla keys and they do aerial mosquito control every time the plane flys my bees die. i called and they told me to put a wet towel over the hive this does not work i was wondering if any buddy has some ideas, how long can you keep them in the hive for with out letting them out? mosquto control calls me the night before to let me know they are going to fly so i have some time they come by in the mornning around 730 am till 930 am by the time the sun comes up most of the bees are out so i would like to hear some ideas so i can keep them.


thanks, Franky

[sqkcrk]

Ask them to spray at night. Or suggest they skip your street.

[jrbbees]

I would put it to them that overnight notice is not acceptable. Send that notice to them by registered mail with return postcard required. I would tell them that if you are not given more notice they may find themselves legaly liable. I would send the same to whomever contracted their services and who pays them for they could be libal also. There is no reason they can not give you 48 hrs. notice. It does not cost that much to go to small claims court.

[fish_stix]

24 hours notice is plenty of time. Just close off the entrances to your hives and wait a couple hours after they spray before opening them. The chemicals used on mosquitos generally have 30-40 minutes of effectiveness and then have dissipated to the point they're not going to kill bees or anything else. You can confirm this by calling the mosquito control agency. Also ask why they don't spray at night like the rest of FL does.

[captcatfish]

24 hours notice is plenty of time. Just close off the entrances to your hives and wait a couple hours after they spray before opening them. The chemicals used on mosquitos generally have 30-40 minutes of effectiveness and then have dissipated to the point they're not going to kill bees or anything else. You can confirm this by calling the mosquito control agency. Also ask why they don't spray at night like the rest of FL does.

ok so i can close off the entrances in the morning leave it closed till i get home from work around 430 pm just dont know if you can do that. have you ever left them locked up all day or for hours at a time i dont want to kill them.

[psisk]

I have locked them in for twenty four to thirty six hours without any ill effects. But I do have screen bottom boards.

[NGAnderson]

I close my hives off for 48 hrs. after we spray the hay pastures for army worms in the summer. The ambient temperature is usually around 100 F, with a heat index of 105-115 F, depending on RH. I use SBB and they seem to do fine.

Garrett