After a tough winter in many parts of the country, honey bees are back in the news because of continued die-offs from inexplicable reasons, which is causing problems for some orchards due to lack of pollination.

Even though our bees did okay— not great, not horrible—this winter, my husband wanted to buy a package of bees to increase the number of hives. One 2 lbs. package (roughly 4000-5000 bees) is going to cost $80 (without additional shipping costs). Wow, that says a lot about the demand this year.

Colony Collapse Disorder

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has been in the news since 2006 when beekeepers were shocked to find hives completely empty of workers. The honey remained, but the worker bees were gone. Its still happening, and scientists arent absolutely positive what is causing the phenomena. It appears to be a combination of pesticide use, viruses, pathogens (such as a Nosema microbe) or even stress.

It’s hard to pinpoint. Plus, it seems to be cyclical with similar events happening in the 1920s and 1960s. (Just in case someone brings it up its not cell phones. The German study has been debunked.)

What particularly concerns me is the pesticide connection. I read an article concerning a study published in the Public Library of Science journal stated that three out of five pollen samples from 23 states had at least one systemic pesticide in pollen and wax samples. Whats even more concerning is they found over 120 different pesticides in 887 wax, hive, pollen and bee samples. Thats an alarming number of pesticides.

Pesticides and Bee Health

In another article from Rodale a couple of pesticides caught my eye. One was fluvalinate, a product used regularly by beekeepers to keep mites under control. Mites arent just a nuisance for bees, theyll wipe out entire colonies if not kept in check. But the trade-off with the overall health of bees is a concern.

The other one that raised a red flag is Carbaryl, also known is Sevin, which is a common go-to pesticide for gardeners. I know many folks who use it for earwigs, grasshoppers and many other nasty pests. It does the job, but it kills pretty much everything. Beneficial insects included.

When we hear of pesticide problems with honey bees on the national level we usually think of commercial spraying of fields or orchard. As a beekeeper in Montana we register our hives with the Department of Agriculture so pesticide applicators can find out where hives are located before they treat an area.

These reports demonstrate why its important to go easy on the chemicals in the garden. If home gardeners are using pesticides in the garden it can be just as detrimental, even if its on a smaller scale. When assessing a pest problem take the least toxic approach as long as we can stand it. I have a friend who lost the entire corn harvest to earwigs so she had to step up and get serious with the pests. Thats understandable. Other times, the damage is within reason I can live with Swiss chard leaves that are less than perfect – and we can live with it without bringing out the hard stuff.