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Subject: Orange County, NC Beekeepers

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Chronological Thread  
  • From: James Whisnant <jwhisnant AT gmail.com>
  • To: Walter Starks <walterstarks AT icloud.com>
  • Cc: Marty Hanks <marty AT justbeenc.com>, "NC,Beekeepers Orange County" <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] Devestating
  • Date: Thu, 1 Sep 2016 17:04:34 -0400

That aerial spraying occurred, was targeted at killing mosquitoes, was done by the county, and the county thinks this was the cause of reported hive losses is supported by this article -

http://www.postandcourier.com/20160830/160839915/dorchester-county-apologizes-after-millions-of-honeybees-killed-by-mosquito-spraying


James Whisnant
919-593-6710

On Thu, Sep 1, 2016 at 4:34 PM, Walter Starks <walterstarks AT icloud.com> wrote:
So you agree with Randall then that better communication is needed. If the local government had provided timely notice to the registered beekeepers this situation might have been avoided. That is assuming this was actually a result of the mosquito spraying. According to the Washington Post article, the local Beekeepers have decided this is the case without waiting for the results from the experts investigating the bee kill.

Nowhere in the article does it state that "there ENTIRE bee farm and their source of income! " was destroyed. Randall never said anything about "number of hives not being a big deal".

Finally, I must say that I find your personal attacks against other members of the local beekeeping community to be very offensive. You are free to post any information you like to support or refute the posts of others, but these outrageous personal statements you make are completely unacceptable.

______

Walter


You never can tell with bees. ~ Winnie-the-Pooh

On Sep 1, 2016, at 4:01 PM, Marty Hanks <marty AT justbeenc.com> wrote:

No...it is. A SC rep is doing testing & there is a link to the bee farms fb page. 

A video recorded & played there has the wife saying in an interview they are on a bee site list! 

Very clear. 
M

Sent from my iPhone

On Sep 1, 2016, at 3:55 PM, Walter Starks <walterstarks AT icloud.com> wrote:

Marty, you have a very vivid imagination. Most of what you quote as fact isn't actually in the Washington Post article or Randall's email.

______

Walter


You never can tell with bees. ~ Winnie-the-Pooh

On Sep 1, 2016, at 3:31 PM, Marty Hanks <marty AT justbeenc.com> wrote:

Anne do not bother listening to Randall!

He's off his meds again or taking hits off his formic acid treatments! 

If he'd have bothered to actually READ the article instead jumping to his pro human & pro big ag responses he'd of noticed they DID have an expert out there the very next morning. OR if he'd taken the tome to research or look of FB the Bee Co they WERE on a registered list. And as a bee farm
i am sure would completely disagree with his "low value" arm chair assessment of number of hives not being a big deal....as its there ENTIRE bee farm and their source of income! 

But the final straw is in his own arrogant words: "That's a sure sign of an ignorant journalist trying to whip up the emotions of an equally ignorant readership."

Im sorry you...like myself and so many other ocba participants have to feel this way. I do NOT think you are Ignorant...as he just implied!! 

You can read & share anything you like. By the sanctioning body that is the NCBA these county groups are "public forums". You should not feel belittled or insulted by a "bee leader" in the ocba, nor have to tolerate this type of repeated behavior of being talked down to. 

But im sure...others will rush in to say im wrong...or that you should not have posted....anything, but a bee inspector or fellow ocba admin coming out & calling him on it for yet again a heavy handed belittling & insulting attack by someone just wanting to share the truth about what is happening. 

Keep on posting all the bee articles & episodes you can find. Just last week a maryland neighborhood had to seek shelter from town trucks spraying even though NO - as in ZERO cases of zika from that area were reported! Just travelers. Also in florida. 

The zika over reaction spraying & increased mites due to warm winters BETTER be on all inspectors minds if we are going to have a chance as keepers to keep our girls alive.

If anyone thinks im over reacting just google northern china pollinating!! Over zealous ag officials & townships there sprayed so much farmers now have to hand pollinate!

Marty

On Sep 1, 2016, at 1:13 PM, Randall Austin <ra41717 AT gmail.com> wrote:

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:
Sad article 



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_________________________________________
ocba mailing list | North Carolina Beekeeping| http://www.theocba.org/
Manage Your Subscription: http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ocba/
_________________________________________
ocba mailing list | North Carolina Beekeeping| http://www.theocba.org/
Manage Your Subscription: http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ocba/

_________________________________________
ocba mailing list | North Carolina Beekeeping| http://www.theocba.org/
Manage Your Subscription: http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ocba/




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