Spring 2014 deadout

[crazy8days]

A little late posting this.  It took them 5 months to get back with me.   My bees and others in the county showed signs of die offs.  Here's the report.

[Perry]

I've been trying to find what level of that junk is "acceptable". I would certainly not be happy!

[Bakersdozen]

Good to know that, should the need arise, a handful of bees is not enough to collect.  I wouldn't have known to freeze them either.
So, in this case, corn was the carrier for the chemical. 
Sorry for the loss of your colony.  Do you have plans to reuse the comb or are you going to melt it down for crafts?  I am wondering if the bees gathered the dust and packed it in cells instead of pollen.  Do you have drawn any conclusions on how they were exposed?

[crazy8days]

The hive is alive and well.  It was reported by Dr. Greg Hunt of Purdue University that the "talc" used to lube the corn in the planter carries the herbicides used.  Planting on windy days blows this talc into the air. Bees get it on them in flight or it blows on nectar producing plants and bees get in contact. Some bee's in the area lost total hives. Some, like me lost some population. 
I have a strong feeling it was the farmer across the road. My hives are registered with DriftWatch and signs are posted. The day before planting my signs were stolen. Farmers are suppose to be good stewards of the land. But, unfortunately many push that to the side for the mighty dollar.

[riverbee]

thanks for posting this crazy.  also, perhaps a partial explanation for some of the problems you experienced last season? just a thought.

"I have a strong feeling it was the farmer across the road. My hives are registered with DriftWatch and signs are posted. The day before planting my signs were stolen. Farmers are suppose to be good stewards of the land."

gee, who do you think took the signs? my money is on the farmer.  does he have your phone number?  do you have the farmers? i would be inclined to get in touch with him in a very friendly manner and give him my phone number and ask him for a phone call before planting, to avoid this as best you can in the future.

[crazy8days]

 Dr. Greg Hunt last spring sent out a email to all Beekeeping clubs in Indiana to let them know Purdue Bee yard had experience die off of bees.  It was the same time farmers were planting corn. I went out to check my hives and sure enough I found hundreds of dead or dying bees in front of the hives.  I collected what I could and called the State chemist.  They sent an inspector to the house to collect the dead bees, take a statement and then they went out to inspect.  It was like calling in a murder and the detectives showing up at the house!  

I was told that if you suspect your bees have been poisoned to collect ALL you can.  Pop them in the freezer and call your state chemist office. 

River, That day I went across the field to talk to Farmer Brown about my signs. Told him I was registered with DriftWatch and it would have been nice if he contacted me before he planted.  He denied taking my signs.  Said he was aware of the declining of bees and does what he can to keep the talc and sprays down on the ground.   

[riverbee]

"River, That day I went across the field to talk to Farmer Brown about my signs. Told him I was registered with DriftWatch and it would have been nice if he contacted me before he planted.  He denied taking my signs.  Said he was aware of the declining of bees and does what he can to keep the talc and sprays down on the ground."

good on you for trying to talk to him, and i think i would also, if you haven't done so already, ask him when he's going to be planting to avoid bee losses. try to work with him on this, take him a jar of honey if you have to, even though you want to smack him upside the head..... of course he denied taking your signs and told you what you wanted to hear. 

for future reference, when i want a straight answer out of someone, i don't ask them a yes or no question, i ask them a why question.  for example don't ask him if he took your signs down, ask WHY he took your signs down. a persons body language, facial expression and response will give you the answer. they are not immediately prepared to lie on a why question. they will stutter and stammer and then deny it. the stutter and stammer and look on their face will tell you yes i did take your signs  but i'm not owning up or telling you i did 

last spring, my own lease farmer sprayed herbicide, and has been asked not to. the over spray killed an adjoining swath of a field we had planted with pollinator plants. my bees were in that field.  i was furious.  i like the farmer, he said to me, uh, oh i forgot.  he didn't forget..... but they do what they do sometimes because their corn/soybeans are more important to them than honey bees, or for that matter anything else. 

[efmesch]

RB, ".... they do what they do sometimes because their corn/soybeans are more important to them than honey bees, or for that matter anything else. "

A good friend of mine in the forum runs a  quote from Katherine Hepburn: If you obey the rules, you miss all the fun."  Maybe it's time to remove that quote?  Or perhaps to define who's missing the fun because someone ELSE didn't follow the rules?

River,  I feel bad for both you, Crazy and for anyone else who loses bees due to mismanaged pesticides.  Whoever hasn't seen poisoned bees dying near the entrance to the hive just can't know what I mean.  Somehow the farmers have to be educated to realize that they are doing themselves a dis-service when bees are killed.  When they realize that their crops aren't getting pollinated and their yields are down, they'll come crying.

You can't have your cake and eat it too.

[crazy8days]

What's really sad is the ones who are running our country.  So many are helping Monsanto and Bayer stir there pot of poison.  They know what they are brewing is poison to bees AND to humans!  But, they don't care!  It's big money!  I see other countries getting on the bann wagon.  They know this stuff isn't good!  They don't want the crap.  But, what does the U.S. do?  Fight to keep it going.  They don't even want the consumers knowing they are eating all these poisons by fighting to keep it from our food labels.