24 out of 24 hives ALL DEAD!

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

Central Arkansa, experienced beekeeper with 100 plus hives in several bee yards.  One yard with 24 hives was weed eater, trimmed the grass on Wednesday, all 24 hives healthy.  Two days later same yard, a hive check revealed all 24 hives dead.  Double handful of dead honey bees at each hive entrance.

Next to this bee yard is planted corn.  The farmer denied using pesticides on the corn.  Herbicides are suspected. The State has dead bee samples so in 3 weeks we should know more.

Very sad.

[Dallasbeek]

Wow!  That's really a blow, Van.  Sorry to hear that.  Sure sounds like pesticide to me. 

[LizzieBee]

Oh no! That?s terrible.

LizzieBee

[Acebird]

Ouch.  Sure sounds like a poison but who is at fault?

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

I am to blame, for buying the corn.

[BeeMaster2]

Hope you are not talking about your bees.
Around here this past year the mosquito spraying was killing thousands of hives and getting people sick.
Jim

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

Thanks for asking Master Jim, the answer is no they were not my bees.
Blessings

[Bush_84]

I?ve heard dust from planting can be an issue. I?d imagine you guys are a ways past planting down south.  They are just getting to it up here.

[BeeMaster2]

Bush,
The seeds of corn are coated with a very sticky substance, neonicitonatinoids sp. I order to get the seeds to go through the planter they add talcum power. Lots of it. When they are planting, the dust blows everywhere. It kills any hive down wind and it gets in the soil. It is a systematic poison so it also comes back up in the weeds and is in their nectar. A bid double whammy.
Jim

[Bush_84]

I live in a very agricultural area. Mostly corn with some soybeans. Sporadic wheat or sunflower. I?ve yet to have any issue from it. That doesn?t mean it won?t happen eventually however.

[JackM]

What a shame.  I would be suing a farmer

[djgriggs]

I hate to hear about that.. I could not image loosing the two I have not even 24.

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

What a shame.  I would be suing a farmer

As a fact there is at least one law suit I am aware of.  Farmer sprayed a Monsanto herbicide on his/her Monsanto gmo crop. The herbicide drifted onto a pecan orchard and killed trees.  This is pending litagation in Arkansas so I do not know the outcome.
Blessings

[Ben Framed]

What a shame.  I would be suing a farmer

As a fact there is at least one law suit I am aware of.  Farmer sprayed a Monsanto herbicide on his/her Monsanto gmo crop. The herbicide drifted onto a pecan orchard and killed trees.  This is pending litagation in Arkansas so I do not know the outcome.
Blessings

To produce such a toxic product, should also be GREAT RESPONSIBILITY!! Does Monsanto sell to uneducated farmers who use their (toxic product) recklessly? Goodness!! A part of pecan orchard!! Honey bees?What other horror stories are out there that we the public do not  hear of? 

[moebees]

What a shame.  I would be suing a farmer

As a fact there is at least one law suit I am aware of.  Farmer sprayed a Monsanto herbicide on his/her Monsanto gmo crop. The herbicide drifted onto a pecan orchard and killed trees.  This is pending litagation in Arkansas so I do not know the outcome.
Blessings

There is a case like this in Missouri involving peach trees.  Is that the one you are referring to or a separate one.  It involves Dicamba.

[Dallasbeek]

The law says the USER has to follow the label directions.  If the user is stupid and fails to read and follow the label directions, he should be liable for the outcome.  Anything can be toxic if misused.  Not to say Monsanto has no liability in this world, but following the label directions to the letter is a dangerous practice, whether you are talking about agricultural chemicals, household chemicals or beekeeping chemicals.

[hrtull]

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/usda-drops-plan-to-test-for-monsanto-weed-killer-in_us_58d2db4ee4b062043ad4af84

It is a sad situation but Monsanto has control of the government and the food supply. They do as they want with a long list of politicians in there pocket. It started with Clarence Thomas. The conflict of interest is painted bright red, so obvious and it just goes on and on.  GMO labeling shot down by  by Monsantos MOAB money bomb. Every time  an obstacle gets in their way, somehow they come out on top.  I am not certain how bad gmo products actually are but in my opinion I am certain this company has way too much control, doing as they want. Its all about the money, a good old boy club.

[sjh]

Corporate Greed I have found is the issue.
I worked in the wine industry for one of the largest players never mind the wildlife that was killed.
I was in a vineyard spraying fungicide ( in my air conditioned filtered cabin) when i noticed some contract workers on foot a couple of rows over removing shoots from vine stems of course  i stopped spraying only to be told by the supervisor to keep spraying as the withholding period was only 1 hour for the chemical.
What Hope do bees have!!!!

Steve.

[Ben Framed]

Corporate Greed I have found is the issue.
I worked in the wine industry for one of the largest players never mind the wildlife that was killed.
I was in a vineyard spraying fungicide ( in my air conditioned filtered cabin) when i noticed some contract workers on foot a couple of rows over removing shoots from vine stems of course  i stopped spraying only to be told by the supervisor to keep spraying as the withholding period was only 1 hour for the chemical.
What Hope do bees have!!!!

Steve.

Just curious Steve, how often did you all do the fungicide spraying? How often did you spray other chemicals as well? Thanks Phillip 

[Ben Framed]

Thanks for asking Master Jim, the answer is no they were not my bees.
Blessings

Mr Van, I am glad that these were not your bees, but at the same time I feel sorrow for the person that these bees did belong to.. Not a good situation for anyone involved... Sincerely, Phillip