Mailing list for the Person County Beekeepers Association, Roxboro, NC

[Randall Austin <s.randall.austin AT gmail.com>]

FYI, information on the State's 2015 plans are <here>.

It sounds like they intend to use a species-specific mating pheromone to disrupt reproduction. Info is <here>. Given the way that it works, it seems that this method of treatment can ONLY be bad for gypsy moths, with no effect on any other creature.

Gypsy moths are extremely destructive exotics so "leave them alone" isn't an environmentally responsible approach. From the info in the links above, it seems there are many options for control, from "fairly good" to "terrific" with respect to efficacy and reducing or eliminating the possibility for collateral damage to other species.

As beekeepers, we should be very supportive of efforts to kill exotic, invasive pests that destroy oaks and other trees. Gypsy moth catepillars feed on 300 species of trees in North America and can literally kill them. Many of these trees are sources of nectar and pollen. Others, such as oaks, don't provide nectar but the DO provide pollen for our bees. Obviously we don't want the cure to be worse than the disease, but at least with respect to this critter that doesn't seem to be the case.

I'm very interested to hear what comes out of the public meeting.

Randall Austin

On 1/24/2015 8:58 AM, Lynn S Wilson wrote:

45A3881E-C618-409B-BCEB-A946438D6333 AT esinc.net" type="cite">Kim and Nick and PCBA members, 

I have e-mailed Chris Elder at NCAGR to request additional information about the chemicals proposed and I've sent e-mails to a couple of contacts in NCSBA to request information from other beekeepers on the impact on honeybees and other pollinators.  

Tim Harris plans to attend the public hearing.

I'll try to update you as soon as additional info is available.  

Lynn

On Jan 23, 2015, at 11:49 PM, nickbungato wrote:

Hi Lynn do you know anything about the chemicals they will be spraying and what impact it has on our honey bee population? Does the state assoc know if this has been done in other counties and to what effect? 

Thanks so much for sharing. 

Kim and Nick

Sent from Samsung tablet

-------- Original message --------
From Lynn S Wilson <wilsonls AT esinc.net>
Date: 01/23/2015 8:04 PM (GMT-05:00)
To
Subject Public hearing on proposed gypsy moth treatment

From Bob Torrence:   Because the hearing conflicts with Bee School, I would be interested to know if we can find someone from the club who could attend this to make sure we understand potential treatment options and timing as it pertains to protecting hives, and make sure we collectively have input to this. Thanks,  Bob 

PCBA members, please let me know if you plan to attend.   Thanks, Lynn