Oregon Agency Blames Pesticide for Bumble Bee Kill (25,000 Dead in Shopping Center Parking Lot)

[Hissyspit]

Source: Associated Press

Jun 21, 2:47 PM EDT

ORE. AGENCY BLAMES PESTICIDE FOR BUMBLE BEE KILL

WILSONVILLE, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon officials say a pesticide is to blame for the deaths of an estimated 25,000 bumble bees in a shopping center parking lot.

The state Department of Agriculture said Friday that tests on bees and foliage showed the deaths are "directly related to a pesticide application on linden trees" that was meant to control aphids.

It said an investigation is underway to see if the application of the pesticide Safari, done last Saturday, violated the law.

To prevent more deaths, bee-proof netting is planned for 55 European linden trees whose blooms attracted the pollinators to the Target parking lot in Wilsonville, southwest of Portland.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_DEAD_BEES

[Jessy169]

1. Multiply this incident times a few hundred thousand and ...

... we start to understand the great bee die-off.

Wilsonville is just a couple miles down the road from me. I had no idea that there were so many (former) bumble bees in and around Wilsonville, but it is surrounded by farm land so that makes sense.

What doesn't make sense is WHY were they spraying the linden trees with pesticide. There are a few of those nice trees on my street, nobody ever sprays them and they do just fine. Why use pesticide when you don't have to??!

[RILib]

2. you know, I occasionally see a bug out in the yard. Even in the house sometimes.

I do not feel compelled to kill them. Well, maybe if they were cockroaches I'd get them outside somehow.

[bvar22]

9. If you saw a Squash Bug on your carefully tended and nurtured Organic Zucchini,

....I bet you would feel differently.

[Quantess]

12. Yes, especially if it's organic!

The nerve of that squash bug thinking he was invited to an organic garden. Time to break out the Ortho "Kill All"!

[bvar22]

17. NO!

Time to break out the [font size=3]The Dust/Bug Buster[/font]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=246x8830

[roody]

3. Probably so someone can make money.

[DainBramaged]

7. Scoreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

hammer meet nail on head

[Judi Lynn]

8. Sure don't want those bees driving off potential customers! Oh, no! n/t

[HereSince1628]

4. Can't have any bugs. The peeps hates the bugz

Before I gave up on inviting people to the farm I had many colleagues out who complained about deerflies in my woodlot.

I told them that when you kill the bugs you starve the birds...they remained anti-insect even when I told them it isn't possible for that little patch of trees to support the ~30 species of dickey birds that nest and/or use it as feeding territory if the woods was sprayed with pesticides to kill all flying insects.

They seemed quite amenable to starving birds to death.

[Tracer]

16. I'm sympathetic to your colleagues!

Those deer flies are miserable. So aggressive, and boyoboy, do they hurt when they bite.

I look like a windmill -- waving them away, when I walk my dogs.

[HereSince1628]

20. Deer flies are attracted to motion and dark colors...

walking a dog will certainly help make you vulnerable.

If the flies get to bothering me I wear a masking chemical on my clothes. I prefer chemicals on myself rather than extirpating all life in the woods.

[Sunlei]

5. thats a popular strong systemic insecticide that lasts about a year.

wonder what it does to wildlife, birds and other pollinators, flower nector feeders like hummingbirds.

[Sunlei]

6. I looked it up, the company clearly warns, the product is toxic to bees.

http://www.mitsuichemicals.com/dinotefuran-precautions.htm

[AmyDeLune]

10. Number has been updated to 50,000+ bumblebees...

Bumblebee colonies have about 100 bees each, this means 500 dead and dying hives.

[fasttense]

13. I had no idea bumblebees lived in such huge colonies

We have them everywhere here. What with the honeybees dying the bumble bees are very useful in our gardens.

[Brother Buzz]

11. Bumble bees poop...

just like honey bees, only um.... Think deer vs moose.

I have it on good authority, bees specifically target parked autos to poop on.

[carla]

14. So?

What kind of logic is it that kills off pollinators to save cars? Humans poop, and the effect is far more dangerous than bee poop.Change your attitude, it's killing the world. Think nature's way v. no world.

[Brother Buzz]

15. Talk to overzealous Groundskeeper Willie

I'm a retired beekeeper, loved my girls, and understand a bit about the role insects in our society; I have no reason to change my attitude.

I'm suggesting the shopping center received complaints and the ignorant staff overreacted.

[mike_c]

18. what's especially annoying is that the pesticide application wasn't neccessary except...

...to keep aphid honeydew from dripping onto cars in the lot. So they planted the linden trees, then sprayed them with Safari to keep them from being a source of honeydew. It would have been better to have simply not planted the lindens.

[formercia]

19. Guess they wanted to make the old Nazis feel at home.

Brotherly Love.