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Subject: Orange County, NC Beekeepers

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  • From: Randall Austin <ra41717 AT gmail.com>
  • To: "NC;Beekeepers Orange County" <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] Devestating
  • Date: Thu, 1 Sep 2016 13:13:34 -0400

If the only choice was between 1) killing Zika-infested mosquitoes to prevent having a child or grandchild being born dead or with extremely devastating birth defects and 2) causing a few hobbyists to lose a few dollars for one season (which the government may compensate for, if pressed), I would choose #1 every single time.

But -- it doesn't have to be a either/or choice. Effective communication is the key, and it sounds like that failed in this particular SC town. If you haven't already registered your hives with the State, see the article <here> to learn how to do it. If your community is discussing mosquito eradication plans, make them aware of the BeeCheck site (see article) and that they should respect their constituents by making timely notifications. Also encourage them to consult the NC DA&CS Pesticide Division (Pat Jones) and the Apiary Inspection Service (Don Hopkins) for advice about timing of application, effective control strategies, etc.

In addition to effective communication, proper knowledge is critical. That's why consulting with people who actually understand the problem is vital. For example, my limited understanding of Zika-bearing mosquitoes is that unlike our stereotypical mosquitoes, these (Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus) are most active in during the day, not at dawn/dusk like the ones that the SC town targeted. Don't ask me how to safely control these -- I have no idea, other than what I have read on the CDC website -- but there are experts who do know.

What we should aim for is no Zika-infested mosquitoes (and thus no dead babies) AND healthy bees, not one or the other.

On a completely different note -- I almost didn't look at this article because of the bit about "millions of bees dead" in the title. That's a sure sign of an ignorant journalist trying to whip up the emotions of an equally ignorant readership. As those who attended the recent OCBA presentation on "Bees as a Superorganism" already know, "bees" are irrelevant by themselves -- it is "colonies" that matter. The article reaches the number "2.5 million dead bees" by multiplying 46 hives (not very many at all, in the big picture) by 50,000 bees and rounding up. 50,000 is just about the biologically maximum possible number of bees in a colony (see article on bee math <here>), certainly not a relevant multiplier for August. When we speak with reporters, let's try to steer them away from this type of nonsensical rhetoric.

Randall Austin


On 9/1/2016 7:57 AM, Anne Cabell wrote:
882082F7-24A8-4966-8B43-25EBA7FE1790 AT gmail.com" type="cite">
Sad article 



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