[mgstei1]

The County Mosquito Control plane made a pass this AM at 0930 hrs here in town!! They did the same last year but this am it was dead calm. Just checked my hives here and they are bringing the dead ones out and starting a nice pile of dead bees. Fire Ants are doing their thing.
The County Bee Association tried their best to stop the spraying except at dark. No telling how many already foraging are dead.
I know the skeeters are bad and WestNile disease is here but I sure hate to see the insecticide killing bees.
Treatment free no matter how hard you try is always a failure, even if the bees make it without hive treatments. Plus neighbors love the handheld foggers and no telling what insecticide they are using.

 

[tabby]

I would have thought the spraying would be more effective at dusk when the mosquitoes are out and the bees are in.
Some places go with Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis for mosquito control with very good results.

 

[Kirk]

Couldn't you contact the mosquito control district and ask them to contact you before doing such?

 

[Michael Bush]

I had the problem for a few years. It is illegal for them to fog for mosquitoes during daylight. The label says they are to do it after dark. I complained to the EPA and they fogged after dark for about a week before they started doing in the daytime again. Another complaint got me nowhere... but with the liberals in charge you may have better luck.

 

[mgstei1]

If its infectious diseases, the guvmint will do whatever. Our association is on their arses. And the skeeters will carry you off.
Whats worse they sprayed my street right at dusk but a slight breeze carried it away as we were leeward.
The city sprays at dusk and all night long and stops at lots of manholees and drowns them with the fog.
the county sprays whenever and covers miles and miles.
They spray low also which is one reason they spray in waking hours.

My poor girls are suffering and some have made it back loaded with pollen only to be shoved out the hive. Glad I extracted a few days ago and used a leaf blower. My next thought is to install a mist sprayer or a deluge system to at least save the hives here in town.
Its us against them(guv) and they gonna win.

 

[KPeacock]

My county has a pretty comprehensive Mosquito controll program and i called them when i was getting into bees. turns out that the department director is a beek. they only fog during daylight i nthe spring when some spring mosquite is active, but they shut down the fogger 1/4 mile from my property. after dark, they fog on through my area as the bees are not out foraging and the hives are far enough away from the road to be unaffected. A simple phone call was all it took. they even called me this year to check and see if i still had bees.

 

[Michael Bush]

Well if they want to maximize the number of mosquitoes they are going about it correctly. They will kill off all the dragon flies and other predators and all of the mosquitoes that emerge after that will have no predators... voila... maximum possible number of mosquitoes...

 

[mgstei1]

Well if they want to maximize the number of mosquitoes they are going about it correctly. They will kill off all the dragon flies and other predators and all of the mosquitoes that emerge after that will have no predators... voila... maximum possible number of mosquitoes...

Similar thoughts!! The fog smells like Kerosene and Malathion. Don't know if that's what they use but I'm gonna find out.

 

[Michael Bush]

In my town it was Malathion.

 

[SoylentYellow]

So now it has been a couple of days...any update on how that hive is doing?

 

[nschomer]

@Michael Bush

I wholeheartedly agree, these blanket sprays do more harm than good - not even counting all the side-effects, it is ineffective at it's one stated goal - to reduce the mosquito population. Where I am it's the same deal with Lyme disease and ticks, except there isn't even an option that I'm aware of like BTi that is specifically an acaricide without killing the majority of beneficial insects. Two years ago the area right behind my property was essentially swampland due to beaver activity (low, stagnant water), but there were so many dragonflies, bullfrogs, and bats that I might have had two mosquito bites in 4 years. Then somebody got the bright idea to knock down the beaver dams and drain the area, now I can't work outside for more than a couple minutes without getting stung. Natural ecosystems are the best at regulating parasite populations, our fear of nature is making it more virulent.

 

[tanksbees]

I just read in the paper they are going to be spraying in our area for west nile - anything to do about that? We're in a suburban neighborhood.

Only thing i've ever seen them do is spray orange oil in the storm drains, not sure what they are going to be doing this time but it sounded like they are spraying a lot more stuff.