On the last weekend of August, South Carolina residents woke up on Sunday morning to the death of millions of bees.  This bee graveyard, found in Dorchester County, South Carolina, was due to the aggressive and invasive spraying of insecticide.  Millions of bees died from acute pesticide poisoning. 

The details
On Sunday, August 28th, Dorchester County delivered an aerial pesticide.  This spray, referred to as “raining insect death”, was released from 6:30am to 8:30am.  An aerial approach is unusual for the county that usually favors ground-based pesticides.  

In one example, Flowertown Bee Farm and Supply reported 46 dead hives after Sunday morning’s spray.  46 hives is roughly 2.5 million bee lives lost.  Unfortunately, given the high temperatures of late summer in South Carolina and the time of the spray, even more bees were put in danger.  Bees are often out collecting pollen during daylight, as opposed to nights when they sleep.  And in hot weather, bees will congregate outside of the hive in an effort to cool down.  Both of these factors will have resulted in even more bee lives taken by the dangerous pesticide, Naled. 

What is Naled?
Naled is an insecticide designed to kill mosquitoes on contact.  It has been used in the United States since 1959.  Luckily, the toxic chemical does dissipate quickly so is not a risk to humans.  However, even humans are encouraged to avoid direct exposure during spraying.  

Cornell University keeps track of chemicals, such as Naled, in its pesticide database.  In the database, Cornell states that Naled is extremely toxic and lethal to bees.  The chemicals in Naled are unable to tell the difference between mosquitoes and honey bees. 

Naled has been a popular choice of insecticide, especially with the recent scares of West Nile virus and Zika virus.  In a single year, over six million acres of land in Florida were doused with Naled. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention is promoting its use in places such as Puerto Rico where the Zika virus is commonly found.  

Bees, viruses and pesticides in South Carolina
South Carolina residents are not unfamiliar with pesticides. Trucks carrying the spray and spouting pesticide clouds are a common sight.  The increased use of pesticides and transition to an aerial approach are in response to reports of West Nile and Zika virus.  South Carolina has confirmed several dozen travel-related cases of the Zika virus.  However, none of the confirmed cases contracted the virus from a local mosquito.

Larry Haigh, the President of the South Carolina Beekeepers Association, explains that many counties will wait to spray pesticides at night when the majority of bees are safer inside their hives.  With adequate warning, beekeepers are able to take precautions in order to protect their bees.  Many will shield the hives and ensure the bees’ food and water is safe from pesticides as well.

Response from local beekeepers
Unfortunately, advanced warning was not the case for Dorchester County beekeepers.  For a spraying scheduled for Sunday morning, the county issued a warning in the newspaper on Friday and posted on their Facebook page on Saturday.  The county also claims they released a press release Friday morning and attempted to call or contact all of the local beekeepers.  But the local beekeepers disagree; they do not feel they received adequate warning. 

Juanita Stanley, a Dorchester County resident and beekeeper, says she would have been standing on the steps of the county office screaming at them to stop if she had known in advance.  As a beekeeper, her hives are her sole source of income. 

Another county resident, Kristina Litzenberger, started a petition to halt the aerial spraying of Naled.  In her petition, Kristina points out a number of alarming facts showing how in the dark Dorchester County residents were.  She states that the notice of aerial spraying did not go live until 1:00pm on Friday, a mere three hours before county offices closed for the weekend.  In addition, phone numbers provided on the notice for concerned citizens were unanswered or redirected.  Kristina explains that no one who called received a call back or any answer to their questions.  The petition called for the immediate halt of the aerial spray and received almost 8000 signatures.  Unfortunately, the spraying went ahead on Sunday morning as planned.

Response from the county
On the Tuesday following the weekend spraying, the county addressed the incident.  Jason Ward, a county administrator, acknowledged the death of the bees and noted his displeasure at the loss of so many.  Unfortunately, this statement of sympathy does little to placate rightfully angry beekeepers.  There was no acknowledgement of wrongdoing, no plans to change behaviour for the future and no mention of replacing lost income for beekeepers or encouraging repopulation of the bees.  

In Kristina Litzenberger’s petition, she calls for education and an open forum.  In education, Kristina, and her almost 8000 strong petition signers, want to know what is in the chemical being sprayed (it is unclear whether residents knew the pesticide was Naled), the dosing amount and possible side effects.  She also requests an open forum, held in advance, so citizens can voice their opinions, raise their concerns and get answers.  Information about the pesticide and a chance to respond to it? Not such an unreasonable request.  Unfortunately for the beekeepers, residents of Dorchester County and the millions of bees, their request fell on deaf ears.