My Honey Bees Are Dying and there is nothing I can do about it, Pesticide Suspicions! Aphid?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ค. 2024
- My Honey Bees are dying on the landing board and in the grass in front of the hive.
My suspicion is that they were exposed to pesticides or a pesticide and are gradually dying off over a period of days.
** The most popular identification on the tiny bug is that it's an aphid** thank you to those who shared their thoughts on that, I wasn't even thinking of that given that it got bagged with my honey bees. Good Call!!! • Aphids: Weird Poop, We...
Symptoms noted:
Extended Tongues
Deaths at hive entrance, on landing board, in grass in front of the hive.
Pesticide is not quick-acting, as the foragers are making it back to the hive.
Strong colony population, still active while bees are dying.
No pollen on dead and dying workers.
No change in colony defensiveness.
Stupefaction - aka Stupefied
Paralysis
Slowing down
Crawling around hive entrance
Inability to fly
Period of deaths noted - four days
Specimens will be mailed to the lab for testing when they open again, read about testing services here: www.ars.usda.gov/northeast-ar...
Internal conditions not inspected yet -
Queen health and laying patterns not yet determined.
Filled hive top feeder to provide alternate sugar syrup source -
Did not restrict bees from foraging - dilution is the solution to pollution.
Will post a follow up, subscribe for more.
You may visit my website here for more options: www.fredsfinefowl.com/thewayto...
UPDATE 6/61/2020 there are still die offs... I will be collecting 100+ samples and sending them in to the lab for testing. Many Thanks to all of you who have offered to contribute to off-set the cost of testing. There is a link to my website down in the video description. The Beltsville Lab has suspended ALL Testing of honey bees due to COVID-19 They are asking that we NOT send any samples at this time. So, we're back to observations and I am saving hundreds of specimens in 70% alcohol. So... holding pattern. THANK YOU for caring. Convincing neighbors not so use pesticides is a great start, keep sharing about the benefits of clover and other friendly lawn plants. Also, bugs aren't bad enough to warrant broad spectrum pesticide cocktails that many landscapers provide.
That sure is a looong month....
Sad. Sorry
95% of Soybeans are sprayed with roundup 4x during the course of just one crop, the last of the treatments as a desiccant to rapid-dry right before harvest. I would drive around a bit just to see what you can observe is going on.
This is deeply upsetting. Are all of your hives showing symptoms?
Definitely need to pick up as many dead to prevent birds etc from bringing to their babies or feeding themselves. The pesticide that’s killing your bees can kill the ones feeding also.
Even though research suggests that honeybees cannot feel pain, the image of the lone bee at the end slowly dragging herself off the landing board for the good of the hive is still powerful and saddening. 🥺The more I learn about honeybees the more I appreciate and admire them. They deserve our protection!
The fact that the bees use their last bit of life and strength to move themselves away from the hive is amazing.
Real talk💪
So pity :(
That is very purposeful beviour - to protect the hive from any desease or contagion or toxic stuff they could have on them.
@@Richard-Vlk it's called altruistic behavior.
@Tab Or nursing home! At least in Michigan and New York.
This is devastating. I'm so sorry. How horrible.
So, so heartbreaking. I know they are just bees, but seeing them die a poisoned, slow death is terrible. Doing everything they can with their last bits of energy to get away and save their family. Poor, poor things...
One year i planted zucchini plants, and they had so many pretty blossoms, but the bugs ate my plants all up. So I sprayed with home garden pesticide. Later I noticed there were no more bees coming around, and none of those blossoms ever made fruit. Then I found out a friend with bees lived not too far from me. I realized I probably killed his bees and didn't do anything for my zucchini. Lesson learned. Get chickens.
We plant marigolds at the ends of every row and bed.... it does seem to repel beetles at least. Bird feeders.... especially suet will keep predators around and physically picking off the bugs.
Rotate the crops to opposite ends of your beds every year. Plant more and hope you end up with more... LOL.
I though one of the main points of registering hives was to notify beekeepers of local spraying and or application of pesticides?
Nope, only diseases... I am on the list for mosquito spraying notifications etc, that's our county.
@TheTimeTraveler2025 True that. People we are losing a BIG battle.
Simply, neonicotinoids must be banned. I'm in UK, 3 main neonicotinoids banned in Europe. Why not USA? Even Roundup implicated as acts as an antibiotic disturbing bee gut bacteria. This is devastating for you. I'm worried because fields around me unploughed for 20+ years have just been ploughed to plant maize. Will they spray them? Probably as they have ploughed right to edges of field suggesting their crop means everything to them.
I'm a beekeeper and the farmer next to me was spraying some chemical last month. Even though I've called the state pesticide investigator's office and an investigator came out, it's been 6 weeks and I still don't know what was sprayed.
GREAT Thought\ Reasoning!!! And WHY Not? !
It's Only Fair, cause to find out when [if] Chemicals are the issue, One has to Pay, and That's TOO Late.
I hope these chemical users are watching this...
The problem is they don't care. And sadly probably never will.
So heartbreaking to see those poor girls suffering. I'm just a home vegetable gardener, but I don't use any sort of pesticide or herbicide for this reason. I want my yard to be pollinator friendly.
I saw a swarm dying like this, farmers were spraying here and not signed up to the spraying scheme. Makes me worry about my bees.
There were no scheduled sprayings here. I'm on the notification list.
@@FrederickDunn What steps are you able to take when a spray happens?
You cannot call them farmers .
I am so sorry about your loss Frederick. 😥 I so wish that people would become more aware of the Damage they do when using pesticides. I know how your Love Bees. 🥰🐝☮ I pray that your Ladies recover from this. 💝
I think they are actually aware and consider bees to be low on the priority list when it comes to collateral die-offs.
Man Fred, that's heart wrenching to witness. As others have said, you have my sympathy. Thank you for sharing though, luckily I've never experienced this with any of my hives but now I know what to look for. Best wishes and I hope your losses are minimal.
I have sat in on a few public meetings with chemical company reps from my area, the area I live in is a HUGE agricultural crop area. These companies try and drill into the public that everything they do and spray is totally safe. I have heard them say the harmful insects and plants that are being killed far outnumber the beneficials being killed and this makes it justifiable.
OrganizedChaos --- If I were in one of those meetings, and the chemical guys started saying everything was "safe" I would stand up and ask them to produce the experiments and tests paperwork that showed their sprays were indeed safe..
They would have to be perhaps "smart" enough to bring copies of their positive test results on insects, no ???
Good luck with this..
That's a bald face lies what they told you just like our politicians if I'm elected I will. Bend you over and fluck you like a dog pologize for the that they really T me off
So sorry to see what's happening to your bees Fred. Thank you for sharing and helpung raise awareness of how your bees are dying due to possible exposure to pesticides.
Your videos are educational and very informative.
That's so sad☠🐝. Hope you get/find some answers Mr Dunn
Fred, amazing photography and a very helpful reminder to us all about the importance of supporting legislation in support of the bees and other pollinators. It is hard to imagine someone seeing these images and not be moved to find a better way than the use of the type of chemicals that killed so many of your bees. A year or so ago, I attended a bee camp with Michael Bush in Nebraska and helped him recoup from nearby broad-based spraying of cornfields that killed literally a million-plus bees from over 100 of his hives. We simply cannot let this continue....
Governments and farmers need to do more to protect bees, some sort of live registration of spraying and bees wouldn't hurt
I agree, I refuse to use pesticides on my farm...
CADBURY SSV every pesticide label addresses protecting bees and pollinators . We would not have a food supply without either. Every farmer is licensed to apply pesticides. Why do we automatically assume it is a farmer!
@@sting1111 Big fields with large amounts of pesticides, also farmers are dependant on their crop doing well to make money. All of which are things which increase the odds a farmer would be responsible. However, that definitely doesn't mean it *was* a farmer. Could easily be some random person spraying a bottle of "something I had lying around" on some bees because their child is scared of bees or something. Probably nobody actually malicious though, just ignorant or indifferent.
People spray stuff because they hate bugs. Perhaps someone fogged their yard for the kids to camp out and....
Maybe some gold course went nuts and fogged the entire course.
I am sorry to hear about your bees, but thanks for this informative and beautifully filmed video, Fred.
Hey Vino Farm! It's been a long time! Thanks and also thanks for the nice compliment :) I hope your apiary is doing strong this year!
hi Fred
I am a brand new beekeeper. I have two hives that I got in June and they started out as nukes. I live in South Carolina up until today they have been doing great. They have filled all 10 frames with resources, brood and seem to be very strong. I did a brood inspection yesterday and everything seemed good as far as I could tell. I still haven’t been able to see eggs but I’m sure they’re there. The reason for my post I wanted to thank you for this video because today I found hundreds of bees dying in front of both hives. They exhibited the exact symptoms that you describe lethargic trembling can’t fly and crawling around on the ground. I had no idea what was going on until I saw your video. The guy that fertilize my lawn was not aware that I am now keeping bees and he showed up this morning at 8 o’clock. I went out and stopped him from spraying the lawn immediately. We have 5 acres and a lot of those acres are fields with grass . Before I could stop him he sprayed the corner of one field probably 100‘ x 100 ft.². Unfortunately there were a bunch of bees in that area and they were collecting pollen from the grass like crazy. I am very worried and I am sad that there is nothing that I can do at the moment but wait. But the purpose of this comment was to thank you for Posting this video. I now know what happened and I know how to prevent it in the future. Thanks Fred again a new beekeeper and I love your videos.
I definitely hope that agricultural practices and those who produce crops can become more mindful. Thanks for watching.
Terribly saddened to see this devastating outcome of your hives. Globally, we walk the road in sadness and anger with you. Major lessons to be learnt from this, good luck! AUS.
Hi Fred.
Although I have little interest in bees, and don't really like the taste of honey, I have found your videos - both about your bees and also about other topics - to be fascinating, informative and very entertaining. Although I have no aspirations of my own to become a beekeeper, I look forward to each new posting on your channel.
. . . I enjoy listening to you speak, you have a very soothing voice.
I was very much saddened to see you most recent posting about your devastated hive. Hopefully, there will be enough bees in this hive for the colony to recover.
As to pesticides/herbicides? I have not used pesticides for at least 30 years, and will not even consider using them. Frankly, I purely despair on the topic. I live in a tract house in suburbia, and my neighbors have a standing monthly appointment with the local exterminator. Sometimes they come more often on a random basis. Whenever they come, I can smell the stench of insecticide wafting through the air. I mean, my house is less than ten feet from the house next door, and there is *always* overspray when they are spraying under the eves. I keep my dog inside when I am not home, in the fear that spraying will be done when I am away and he will receive a toxic dose.
I even had a salesman knock on my door trying to "sign me up" for the monthly visit at a "super deal". His "come on"? He stated to me that "the spray we use is *not* toxic". When I asked him why the insects died when they were sprayed if the spray was 'not toxic', he didn't have an answer for me - just repeated that "OUR spray isn't toxic". Ignorance is an amazing thing. . .
Yeah, right. Gallon jugs of RoundUp are sold in our local Walmart for "household use". (!) The 'solution' (pun intended!) for the ever-mysterious "Colony Collapse Disorder" could probably be found browsing gallon jugs of insecticide found on the shelves of our local hardware stores.
Speaking of CCD, it seems to me that the FedGov would have a vested interest in discovering what is killing off our bees, and would thus offer such testing for free. I mean, bees are *everything* to agriculture.
Fred, although I am not a bee keeper, and never will be, I would be pleased to kick in a few bucks in order for you to have your bees tested. Email me if the time comes - I think posting here gives it to you.
My best wishes to you. I hope you have better days.
Thank you.
Anne
"don't like the taste of honey" lmao wierdo... & then write a wall of text on full display without a "show more".
That "OUR spray isn't toxic' chanting reminds me the 'Because it has electrolytes' mantra from the Idiocracy movie.
This is makes me sad. Just got my first hive this year, also Saskatraz bees. They're working like crazy and are a real joy to watch.
Sorry to see this Fred. Thanks for all the beautiful and educational videos, you've taught me a lot in a short time and I really appreciate your efforts. Hope this is a one time event for you. Best regards, Jay
Thanks for the info Fred! I learn something from just about every video you put out. And as a new beekeeper I need all the info i can get.
This is my first year beekeeping, I'm not sure if I am cut out for this. My heart gets so heavy. These little creatures of God provide us with so much and yet, people still don't get it. I pray people stop using pesticides. This was so sad.
This is the first insecticide event in over 13 years, don't let it deter you.
I’m not sure praying is going to have any effect on pesticide use. Pressuring your local politician, however, might do the trick. And talking to your neighbours about these issues. Praying? Meh...
With the poor weather we've been having. This is a rough year to start any bee colony so far.
These are creatures of evolution and natural selection, not an imaginary being.
@Tech Sorry you are such an idiot.. He will remind you what you said when He talks to you someday.. Mark my words, it is going to happen to you.. And all of mankind...
Its a sad world we living in, we are killing one of the most important creatures intentionally or unintentionally. Anyways this whole situation its very sad. I hope the rest of your bees will be healthy.
This colony is the only one in my apiary impacted so far. It may still make a come back!
Frederick Dunn Amazing news!
So sad Fred, but real honest bee keeping from you once again. Thank you for filming and sharing, it's a constant learning process and education is the key.
I'm a beekeeper and this happened to me last year. Very sad. Beekeepers need more support and protection
I'm sorry to hear this Fred, it's very discouraging. It's just been a bad year all the way around. 🙁
Thanks Dan
So thankful for such a detail video. This is exactly how one my hives has been for the past two days. So far I think about 90% are dead including the queen... But at least I know what has happened.
Astounding commentary. I really enjoyed that. Thank you for posting.
Thanks for listening
This is awful and I’m so sad to see this happen to yours or any bees. I am glad you shared this though because it’s so informative.
Oh man that sucks. I'm sorry to hear about this. I hope you figure out what is happening and can do something about it.
That is so sad. I had no idea bees were so smart and protective of their colonies. I’m sorry for your loss. It is heartbreaking! If I had extra funds to help with testing I would very much do so!
Testing wouldn't help the bees situation. But I do plan to send off samples if the lab opens this year.
Bee keeping is farming , and all bee keepers to to set their sights on county and state governments to create a system of warning through the regulated sales of chemical that harm honeybee and the farmer keeping them! As a group this could be fixed to some extent need the effort in every beekeeping community! God bless the bees !
We do have that list and alert system in place. Many growers simply forget or ignore the requirements to report spraying schedules. It's also worth noting that I'm not a commercial beekeeper, so may be low on the information list. I am on the county alert list, but need to be added to our dept. of ag spray alert list for the future.
@@FrederickDunn Then they should be fined or punished, if they're ignoring/forgetting something they need to do.
@@BazilRat unfortunately gov wont fires but may doc pay but not fire unless it affects commercial grade beekeeping than they would fire but as fred says he`s not commercial so hobbyist will be ignored
It is a horrible thing that your bees have been exposed but this information is invaluable to a lot of us. Thanks for sharing and educating. Your the best Fred.
You are very welcome :)
I started to be interested in bees and honey since university i had a lecturer who cared for bees . They are such unique creatures
Oh no! That's so sad, thanks for sharing this video is very educational!
I have just added a comment to your video on attacks to bee hives as I thought my problem was an attack by wasps. But after seeing this video, my bees are showing all the symptoms of being sprayed with an insecticide, it’s so upsetting as they look in pain and you can’t do anything to help them. Many thanks for your help, it’s such an informative video.
Hi Anne, that's terrible! But you can rest assured that there is no evidence that they "feel pain", but it is sad none the less. They do have stimulous responses that help in their survival as well as a level of intelligence, but no established pain receptors that would in any way equal mammal pain responses.
This is one of the saddest things to watch. thank you for the info, but I grieve for you and the loss. This is absolutely preventable. Luckily I have alfalfa and hay farmers within 5 miles of me. When I start next year, I am going to inform my neighboring farmers to contact me be for spraying. So sorry for your loss. :(
This is so sad. Please keep us updated on this hive as you learn more (we know you will). So sorry.
Very sorry for you and your poor bees Fred. I hope the Hive will recover.
I had the same exact thing happened early in the spring when the dandelions were blooming. I figured somebody sprayed their lawn. Thank you for filming something like this a lot of people would not understand what is going on. Fortunately my issue only lasted one day and I didn't find any long-term lasting effects.
Over the last two weeks, I have noticed the same with my back yard colony (3 deep). I suspected insecticide poisoning as I tested for mites and had a none load. So sad that I really can't do anything to help them. Just life in these times.😪 Thank You for your videos I watch every Friday 🙂
Sorry to hear that
I'm so sorry. It's so sad to see them suffering but I think we need to know the truth about what is happening.
That's so sad. Thank you for sharing. Knowlege is hard sometimes. That mite looks like an aphid. Just before the end of the video you can see a couple more in the grass with the bees.
That's a good call on the aphid Christopher, I think you may be right.
A couple of my neighbors get their ornamental trees sprayed a couple of times a year. Today the tree service showed up and they have the large truck that has the pressurized hose so they can get to the top of large trees with the spray. The wind was going away from my NUC but I was concerned and kept an eye on the hive. I always stand and watch the entrance and observe the activity as I have been trying to save the hive since spring. I did not have the carnage that your hive went thru but I did notice one bee on the ground below the landing board and it was acting strangely. It was almost doing a figure eight like a waggle dance but without the waggle. It flipped over on it's back for a moment righted itself flipped over again and just completely stopped dead. No slow death with any twitching or last gasping movement. It just flipped over and stopped. I wish I had been able to video tape it because the whole process took maybe 15 seconds but I just could not believe that the bee just stopped like that. It was like the off switch was thrown.
Your video is very helpful. I just collected a swarm of bees that were establishing in a kids sandbox. Their were a number of dead bees when I collected them. Once I got them home they continued to die. Just like this. I had no idea what was happening till I saw your video.
I have a hive that is doing same thing right this minute. Thanks for sharing.
Hello Fred, this is so sad as a beekeeper myself I’ve never seen this condition I hope you can find out what is happening to your bees and I would gladly pay something if you decide to get them tested just for your peace of mind, I really hope you get a answer to this devastating situation, good luck Fred.
I'm so so sorry to see this! It is heart breaking.
Being in the Central Valley of California, I worry about pesticides all the time! Sorry about your loss. I hope none of your other are affected!
Thanks Ryan, the others are looking good so far :)
California? You have good laws about pesticides in California .Even rat poison its now banned.
Fred, god bless you man for showing this, a professional every time. I know how I would feel if I lost a hive. Were the remainder of your colonies OK?
I would be crying for days.
Yes, only one hive is showing this issue. The rest are doing well.
Thank you for the video. This was very informative, and I now know what to look for if I have this issue come spring. 😃
Question, one would associate pesticides with spring, HOWEVER just now found 3 dead girls, with tongues out.... 😒
I do have pictures, of course.
I am glad you made this video. It comes as part of the territory unfortunately. But this video provides a good education and documentation for poisoning. I know your experienced in husbandry and will take it in stride. Hopefully the colony will survive and thankfully there is time to rebuild. Let's hope for that.
Thank you so much Gary, yes it's an educational opportunity and I think this colony may actually recover.
This is great information! Thank you!!!
Terrible Fred, thanks for sharing that everyone should see this and I hope you find the problem please keep us posted.. Shared BTW.
Thank you, I will
I'm just a small beekeeper from the Philippines and this is exactly what happened to my bees when all my hives were wiped out late last year. I've lost all my 24 hives and never recovered since(still didn't have bees now). I was totally devastated. The findings turned out to be neonicotinoids that some idiot sprayed on his corn fields. I'm not sure if the same pesticide is the cause to your bees dying though...but your bees behavior dying is eerily similar to mine.
So sorry you've lost all your bees. I do hope you are not going to give up on keeping bees. You have all the equipment and know-how. I don't know what kind of bees you have in the Philippines (I'm in Canada), but I do hope you get lucky and have a surviver swarm set-up house keeping in one or maybe a beekeeping neighbour I'll be willing to part with a split in a pay it forward for good karma. I do wish you success in your future endevours, hopefully they include beekeeping.
@@georgegoertzen4723 Thanks George. We also keep mellifera 's here(well, I did and a few others) but beekeepers here usually keeps the asian honeybee's or cerena's. We usually import mellifera's from Australia since they're more easy to get acclimatize to the tropics compared to bee's from NA or Europe. I actually gonna get a new batch this December(better get new bee's in colder months for acclimatization reasons)...so all is good for now. Out of topic: I actually just ordered some fancy apimaye hives for the coming new batch since it kinda made sense here. It's "theoretically" a lot cooler during the hot and very humid months and basically have a higher chance to survive typhoons with 90mph winds.
Thanks for the INFO.
Amazing that they make it back to the hive given they are in such rough shape
I appreciate this video. My apiary is currently experiencing a mass die off of bees. Tens of thousands of bees have died in some of my strongest colonies. So devastating...
There is always the chance that they are out of nectar/honey resources and may need a sugar syrup boost to get them through...
I am a new bee keeper and one hive is doing great and the other hive started dying. It is similar to what you went through, dropping to the grass and crawling away to die. I found them on the landing board and the feeder dead. I believe half of the NUC died... The other hive is doing really good and hope it remains that way.
Did you have light sugar syrup on that hive? Starvation can also look like poisoning, easy to prevent. If you had 1:1 sugar syrup on the hive and they still died, then you can likely narrow it to poisoning.
I think we all appreciated that you showed that bee drag itself off the edge!
God bless the bee's
Oh good God no! I am so sorry! I hope that it won't wipe out your whole hives. It's very convenient that testing for pesticides is so expensive, don't you think?*cough* Monsanto *cough*
It’s the chem trails
@@jonboyi8523 I don't know if your reply was meant to be mocking or not, but it has nothing to do with vapor trails and everything to do with Monsanto lobbying and paying off senators and congressman that allow the use of chemicals that shouldn't be used as pesticides or anything else. By making chemical testing prohibitively expensive it makes it less likely that the bee die off will br laid at Monsanto's door.
It’s the 5G!
Seriously, though, maybe testing IS expensive. 150$ is not that much, actually. They need to test for every possible chemical known to agriculture, and lab equipment is not cheap.
I’m not sure Monsanto (or any other purported evil-doer) is responsible in any way, except pressuring politicians into delaying approval of regulation that bans some kind of pesticide
Having said that, being a beekeeper myself I’d love to see lower pesticide use. But at the moment the alternative is GMO crops that are “naturally” resistant to pests without the need to use pesticides, and in Europe the anti-GMO movement is religiously against those.
7 billion human mouths to feed, and counting, THAT is the biggest problem
@@longwhitemane : In case anyone is interested, Bill Gates owns a huge gaggle of Monsanto and Bayer is now part of the pack. I find it really unbelievable that Gates, the promoter of vaccines, also owns chemical companies that make people sick and kill off our pollinators.
Am Sorry about your bees Mr. Dunn,, Sad,,😔🇱🇨👊🏿👍🏿🖤
I lost a whole colony to pesticide and it spread throughout the hive. I had zombie like bees walking on the ground. Bees in the colony had deformed wings and some even dropped their wings.
That's definitely an unfortunate outcome. We will see if this colony holds up....
Zombie bees walking away from hives with deformed wings is not pesticide damage it's varroa transmitted disease called Deformed Wing Virus DWV.
Mites killed your bees..
Fred I'm so sorry! Thanks for sharing this info with us. I will also say, If people don't think these chemicals affect them too, guess again! Farmers: If you feel trapped.. look deeper.. Checkout Advancing Eco Agriculture. You can at least dramatically reduce pesticide usage!
Aww man this really sucks! I hope your hive bounces back and it’s makes it through.. that little thing is kinda cute especially the picture you had up of it! Also might be the new treatment they are making for the “ lantern fly” it’s makes them act like this and they grow a fungi or something like that on their heads..
That's an aphid. They aren't treating for lantern flies here yet, they at the other end of my State. But that's good thinking!
Frederick Dunn yeah that’s my area I’m on the east side of pa right next to the Delaware river... actually real quick question how can I know if my bees are making “honey dew” or what ever it is called from the lantern fly crap is there anyway to know?
Certain herbicides will also affect foraging insects like shown here, Roundup for example if your city/municipality sprays the road sides to control plant growth.
I'm sure it has an affect on Hedgehogs Leeds Yorkshire . Bradford too .
Uneducated but well meaning emergency damage control ideas:
I am so sorry for what's happening. I know nothing about bees but have been watching and learning from your channel. A couple of uneducated emergency damage control ideas have popped into my head that may or may not help but I felt I had to try. Could you:
1) wait until (almost) all the bees are in their hive at night
2) cover the hive with mosquito netting to keep them from venturing out in the morning until the pesticide has time to dissipate (days/weeks?) (WalMart also has mesh laundry hampers for around $3 that completely zip for full enclosure that you might be able to zip around the smaller hives)
3) provide the resources inside the netting that they would have been trying to collect - like a sugar water feeder thing and store bought organic pollen or pollen substitute
-Could you send out a mass mailer to all the residents in your local area like those little cards that come in the mail for advertising informing your area of your apiary and asking them to call you to warn you if pesticides will be sprayed?
-If you cannot save them - would it be better to euthanize them so they don't all suffer what seems to be an agonizing death?
I love your videos and am learning so much. Thank you. I am mortified and again, I am so sorry - I see the love and care you give your bees and what they mean to you. You're a great Bee Dad.
This has to be a devastating experience for you and the bees. It must have been very difficult for you to make this video. I do wish there was more support for beekeepers to pin down the cause of this sort of problem. You are left in the dark and unable to take any concrete steps to ameliorate the situation so it doesn’t happen again. May S Ambrose and S Abigail, Patron saints of bees and beekeepers, intercede for you and your bees that this malady will end and your bees will be restored to health. Sincerely, Larry Clarence Lewis, London, Ontario, Canada.
heartbreaking watching this,i hope you have better luck,from a fan in the u,k
Sorry to see that Fred! That is such a bummer. My neighbor just bought the place next door, real nice couple. Gave them a jar of honey as a welcome to the neighborhood gift. Well they came over to say they’re having their yard around the house sprayed for bugs... I can’t stop them... But I explained the ecosystem and hoped they wouldn’t. Time will tell...
Best of luck Sir, I hope minimal losses for your hives.
Your neighbor is exactly the sort of person we're trying so hard to educate. Ornamental insect controls are largely unnecessary and the landscape companies put a cocktail of insecticides out just to cover all bases. It's a mystery how we ended up doing that to our lawns...
AGREED SIR!!! All we can do is continue to educate and hope folks hop on board.
That’s terrible I hope you can find out what neighbor is spraying and talk them out of it. I hope I never have to go through that with our bees. Sorry about your bees. Sad so sad. 🐝🍯🐝💚🌸
I am verry sorry for your loss and i hope it doesnt lasts more days and your bees recover fast.
Doesnt look like neonicotinoids,it looks like something much more poisonous.
Two years ago we had a neighbour use a systemic pesticide called SAMURAI it’s supposed to be applied after petal drop but he put on at the start of petal drop because of bad agronomist advice, it’s used to control citrus Gaul wasps, we lost 80 hives in 2 days and another beek who had 200 colonies on citrus lost the lot, such a gut wrenching thing to happen it made my dad cry n he’s old school tough.
The little bug in the bag looks like an aphid
That's seriously terrible. wow.
I lost 60 hives from a apple grower spraying Losban on pink bud flowers bees acted like these ones and nectar was so badly poisonous all the combs were toxic ,wax moth grubs died eating combs so we scraped off plastic frames and cut combs off wooden frames this was after feeding them 1200 kg of sugar trying to get them back
They they came out of a coast site too many bee for them to fit in hives two boxes high outside so they rapidy filled cells with toxic nectar from apples
Saw something similar at my friend's hive. He told me that his area has a Dengue outbreak and the government went on a fogging exercise in the evening just when the bees are returning
Thanks for that video.
Poor little bees! That is so awful. Maybe they will recover. I kept a bee in my house for a couple of days that looked like that. I gave it water and a little sugar water. After a few days it seemed to recover and flew away. I hope you dont lose your hives!
so sorry for your loss. that little bug looks like an aphid.
It’s so sad see such hardworking busy little creatures. Typical of man to destroy the good things of nature. 🥺
So, so sorry to see this Fred, take care mate. 😥
This sucks, Fred. it must be horrible watching it happen to one of your colonies. I hope this colony recovers and the others remain healthy.
This is a video which needs to be shown to all legislators so that they understand the effect of licensing the spraying of poisons around the environment. Followed by the one showing what a supermarket produce aisle would look like without pollinating insects.
Even if the agribusinessman (farmer doesn't cover it - real farmers look after the land) feels a need to wreck the environment, it should be a criminal act to spray without notifying everyone within bee foraging range of the intention and the time and date the vandalism is planned. Yes, that would cost them - and that alone might wake them up to the consequences of their actions. As may the protests outside their gates in response.
Thankfully for us here in Europe and the UK, far more of these chemical weapons are restricted or refused licences, even to the extent of banning the import of crops which have been poisoned in this way, and this video gives all the justification needed for such restrictions and bans.
Particularly at a time like now, when food security is being recognised as such a major issue.
We don't inherit our planet from our parents, we borrow it from our children, and may be held accountable by them in the future.
Terrible news. So sorry to hear about your Bee problems.
Excellent and informative content as always! Do you have any suggestions on keeping bees out of the field? The man who farms around my hives was kind enough to let me know that he will be using a pesticide on cotton once it blooms next week. I plan on topping off my hivetop feeders that day, but do you have any suggestions on a kind of netting or something to use to keep them from foraging for a while? He did agree with my suggestion to spray the closest fields at dusk so perhaps it wont be too much of a problem.
Other than screening the entrances for the contact period, I really don't have any advanced methods worked out.
Might ride around the likely AO of your bees and see if anyone has their tanks and spray bars out. The pesticide/herbicide jugs may lay on the ground a day or so near the fill up points so you could possibly get an idea of the specific chemical. Ask the local ag supply stores what's been sold lately.
This is devastating. I love my beautiful bees. I'm trying to petition my neighbor not to use pesticides on her lawn this year, but like you said there are so many opportunities for exposure anyway. There is a cornfield behind my house and other commercial farms too that use pesticides despite whatever minimal measures my neighbors might do just to make their lawns look pretty.
It's an uphill climb to convince suburbanites to have greener floral lawns... but don't stop trying.
Thanks for the video. I think my bees are experiencing the same symptoms. I was thinking it was me and feeling down.
The good news is that this was a focused event and the colony recovered well.
@@FrederickDunn I just found out my 2 new nucs may have CBPV. The NYS inspector is coming to check for me because I didn't understand what I was seeing. Your video was helpful and showed me there are other things out there that affect bees.
Poor girls...ugh!
It does help a lot. To know what it looks like. Yet it hurts my heart.
Oh, sorry to hear about the problem. They look so healthy otherwise...
My first thought on seeing the small bug is that it might be a young aphid.
Again, thanks for all of your great instruction. We new-bees need to know how to handle the good and the bad.
You called it Terry, it's an aphid :)
@@FrederickDunn I saw a couple more in the last segment (around 19:45) - one on a bee's wing, one crawling across a blade of grass (closer in, so slightly out of focus).
Have you noticed any webbing or standing appearing as this could indicate spider mites and a common way to kill them is washing up liquid mixed with cooking oil and water that you spray on the foliage. This mixture strips the oils our of the mites bodies causing them to die. It usually takes 3-5 days to work which would fit the timescale mentioned. Hope you find the answer and a workable solution soon.
Wow , that really s---ks. We've got several farmers in our bee group. They were very interested in what to use AND how to use it safely. They spent quite a while talking to DR, Jamie Ellis when he came for a talk. When possible invite those using pesticides to meetings like this.This is probably the best way to make a difference.
I had a great visit with a landscaper this afternoon. He stopped to talk with me about pesticide use and how they can do better. It was a nice conversation and he definitely cares. :)
Sucks! I just started my first hive this year, i hope they do well as we have crops all around us!!!!!
I'm having the same issue I'm in western Massachusetts and lucky me there's a soybean field right across the street from my yard its actually the same property that is leased by the land owner that I'm friends with..I'm going to attempt to contact this farmer and see what information I can find..Good luck god bless I will let you know if I find anything worth reporting on these stoic little creatures I love so much..
You should set up a patreon, that way we could help you fund so you can get those bees tested and see what the cause of this death is
Also just subscribed, and binge watching your videos, love the content and love your calming nature, definitely needed in 2020 👍
Thank you
Fred found this and thought you might find it useful?
Locations with abundant growth of
California buckeye (Aesculus spp.), deathcamas
(Zigadenus venenosus), locoweed (Astragalus or
Oxytropis spp.), laurel {Kalmia sp.), or rhododendron {Rhododendron spp.) should be avoided, if possible, while these plants are in bloom. Damage to colonies from poisonous nectar or pollen may be severe in some years, but of small consequence in others.
Dear Fred. We're very saddened to see this. Poor bees. 😥
Well, I hope you can save the rest of your Bee's.. What a shame.. We gotta get these people or companies to stop using chemicals that's harming our Bee's out there..
Lost my first 2 hives to pesticides. The neighboring farms grew soybeans and corn and admitted to spraying but didnt offer to change anything about their process when i noted my now dead hives.
It was sad seeing them go lethargic before dying out. Only change i was able to make was i moved from farm country to wooded back-country.
Farmers definitely know they have priority with their crop treatments. Hard for a small scale beekeeper to get their attention.
Mr. Dunn, it is excruciating to see the effect on your bees. And watching that forager slowly make her way to the edge of the landing board is just sad. I feared bees for much of my life. Now, at 64, I love to roll my wheelchair near flowering plants in our yard and watch the ladies work. I often wonder where their colony is, or if the bees present in my yard are from a number of colonies. I don’t know a lot about bees, but I know we’re in trouble if we keep losing them. Good luck with your ladies!!