More Violations on the Same Day!

Again, Sunday afternoon, while bees were foraging heavily on goldenrod, aerial application was observed at about 5:30 PM The applicator was headed right toward the one bee yard Mr. Rabon has that was unaffected by the morning application, also toward another beekeeper that had already sustained some damage.

    There was heavy foraging going on prior to sighting the plane and this foraging continued afterward until 6:20 PM. Between 6:20 and 6:30, bees quickly ceased foraging. So, until 6:20, the application was in violation of the label directions.

    Green has been campaigning for applicators to obey the law, and repeatedly has pointed out the necessity of a monitoring system for compliance. Sunday  was a clear illustration of that need. It was a perfect fall foraging day for bees, with warm temperatures and high humidity, they started earlier and finished later, and foraged heavier upon the tremendous quantities of bloom available to them. This led to the most serious kills to date. Are the violations and kills going to continue?

    Requests have been made to the Clemson Department of Pesticide Regulation for action to stop this misuse, and require applicators to comply with the label directions, so far to no avail. Aid has also been requested from the Attorney General and Governor Hodges, with no response, or known action. A plea to the state Extension Apiary Specialist, Dr. Mike Hood, for assistance, has only been met with silence. A large-scale PR campaign by mosquito control officials seems to have even cowed or snowed the media.

Caught in the Act!   1. Caught in the Act!   2. What does a pesticide violation look like?  3. Are there blossoms?  4. Are there bees on the blossoms?  5. What is the first rule of pesticide use?  6. Who enforces pesticide laws?   7. Do the regulators have the will to enforce against this crime?  8. What about the mosquito threat?  9. How to comply?  10. How does one set up a monitor?  11. Condoned Evasion Scheme!  12. Hey, not all applications are wrong!       13. Contacts for comment or information        Home

Part II: The damage:  Bees, Beekeepers Clobbered!        More Violations      Home