Help! It's a bee apocalypse in my backyard

[chantal]

Does anyone know if the City sprayed for mosquitoes or aphids or something yesterday near Ridgecrest? My god, it's a bee apocalypse in my backyard this morning where thousands of dead bees are piled in front of the hive and thousands more are crawling on the ground as they twitch towards death. Talk about a beekeeper's nightmare.

I'm being a drama queen about it, but it's a total bee catastrophe.

Other local beekeepers tell me that apparently this can happen when someone conducts a pesticide campaign nearby. Does anyone in Fringecrest or from the Env. Health dept have more info?

(Commenters, please be kind. I'm actually really sad about this. You can't imagine how terrible it is to see thousands of the critters you're trying to care for dying en masse.)

[Just Al...]

Really does frighteningly sound like that colony collapse disorder....gotta have bees to pollinate stuff!

I don't know about the Nob Hill area, but they were spraying around Winrock a few days ago...

[Brendan]

I'm not an expert, but isn't the thing about ccd that the bees disappear, not die by the thousands on front of the hive? This sounds like something local.

[chantal]

Well I still don't know what happened yesterday/this week that poisoned my bees, but here's what I've learned:

• Yes, the City and County spray for mosquitoes.
• The pesticides they use are Aqua-Reslin and Scourge which contain pyrethoids.
• Pyrethoids, according to this govt website, are "toxic to bees, fish, and other aquatic life forms."

So it looks like Albuquerque may have an annual program to kill off local pollinators. Maybe Mayor Marty can launch a "Save Albuquerque Bees" campaign or something ;-)

[Adelita]

Chantal, Mayor Marty can call the program "The B". Bad joke, I know. Sorry.

But I am truly sorry about your bees.

[secret squirrel]

Very sad to hear about your bees. I live in fringecrest and have a very sensitive sense of smell. I noticed a very strong pesticide smell in my yard yesterday when I came home and it was still strong later in the evening when I was working on the garden. My neighbor likes to use roundup (ugh! why dear god, why? she has children and pets, are weeds that hard to pull by hand?) and I assumed she went on a spraying spree with the stuff. The ordor remained this morning. Pesticides are evil.

[dog breath]

Well lets see your options are competition, predation, disease, anthropomorphic agents.

The first two can occur if an an africanized colony was going to take over your bee hive, kill off the colony, but there would be casualties on both sides. you can't distinguish the africanized ones. Are there any other insects in there?

#3 seldom does disease work overnight... its usually a "bell shaped" death curve.

that last is your most parsimonious explanation, ... a nasty neighbor with a can of raid, or that the bees were drinking/feeding on a source that was polluted with pesticide.

Try calling the county ag extension office to see if they will test them for pesticide.

[chantal]

Hi Reginald, thanks for the feedback.

I'm nearly certain it's the last option on your list as my hive was incredibly strong and the die-off was sudden and total. Additionally, the bees are exhibiting classic signs of poisoning: twitching and the like.

After a bit of research, this seems like the guy to contact which I'll do straightaway:

Greg Watson
Assistant Bureau Chief
NM Dept. of Agriculture
Bureau of Ent. & Nursery Industries
MSC-3BA
PO Box 30005
Las Cruces, NM 88003-8005
Phone [phone]
Fax [phone]
Email [e-mail]

[chantal]

So... I've been totally unable to track down what happened to my bees who are nearly all dead now.

The City says they didn't spray for mosquitoes this week. The Dept of Ag can't test the bees unless they know what substance they're looking for.

At this point, I guess my only consolation is that my 5 year old nieces are coming to town tomorrow and they're determined to have a bee funeral.

[dog breath]

Well that's very sweet. ..like honey (oops...)

At least you found a contact @ NMSU hopefully he will be helpful.

Ooh... are there any hummingbird feeders around? if so... check them to make sure they are not overgrown with mold/fungus!

[Jacqui Lewnes]

My condolences for your bee babies.

[Chris]

Try contacting Rey Garduno your City Councilman
Phone [phone]
email [e-mail]
I think this is something that he might be able to help solve. I live on the Western Fringe and have been spending a lot of time in the front yard with a new puppy. While we were out earlier I actually say a bee fall out of the air. I'll check tomorrow to see if the bees are as thick as normal on the grape ivy on the back of the house. It might not be something that the city did it might have been the bases.

[chantal]

Heh, heh, so here's something for levity. When drones (males) inseminate a queen, they do so high in the sky. Once business time is over, the drone dies and plunges to the ground.

They fly in what is called a "drone zone," a space 30-60 feet above the ground. When a virgin queen reaches the zone, the drones are attracted to her by a scent produced in her mandibular glands. At the time of mating the genitalia of the drone explodes, separating from him, and he dies. - From Backyard Hive

So while you may have seen poisoned bees falling from the sky, you also may have seen a drone who just finished the job.