Spraying Makes Any Beekeeper Nervous
Farming sure has changed since my dad supported a family of 4 on 260 acres. 10 acres of that was for the house, garden, barn, sheds, granary, chicken houses, lots for hogs, and 5 acres of pastures for a couple of milk cows. I do remember seeing aerial spraying for army worms in the wheat when I was kid, but spraying by plane, and spraying in general, has greatly increased over the years. Now with the large acreage, the farmers don't till and cultivate the soil like they used to and there are more chemicals for a larger variety of uses. Licenses are required for application to use some of these products, but even when they are used according to guidelines there is no feeling of comfort when you're standing next to your hives watching chemicals being applied nearby, no matter the kind or the method. The use of pesticides are specifically regulated in the area of established bee yards. They can be applied to blooming crops only early in the mornings and later in the evening when the bees are not actively foraging. A web site was established with the hope of enhancing communications between applicators and producers - BeeCheck.org. This type of cooperation can work to help the honeybees, but does little to protect other important pollinators, from bats to the smallest of insects, and those who rely on them for food. It only helps manage application near established apiaries. Would organizations of this type be necessary if these chemicals were safe? The chemicals are still used, but under stricter regulations, implying that the use is not harmful if controlled.
We are being flooded with declarations of how GMO crops and systemic and applied chemicals have been responsible for the declining numbers of honeybees and other pollinators the world over. This information can be as accurate or exaggerated as the media chooses, depending on their agenda. I'm not qualified as a scientist, a researcher, or a philosopher to discuss the problems and implications of all this. But, I am an old farm kid and a beekeeper who continues to observe what goes on around me, my hives, and the world of beekeeping. We're all in this together.
How is it that we've become so accustomed to chemical use? Their negative effects on us and our environment have been shown through research and decades of experience. If nothing else, it would seem common sense and observation would tell us the gallons/tons of chemicals being used on our crops, soils, and our yards each year cannot be used without having some effect on the world around us. Pesticides kill many insects, not just the honeybees. We cannot afford to forget the many, many other important pollinators that are being affected by the use of such chemicals. There is concern the mites in bee hives have become resistant to some of the treatments some beekeepers have been using. Other plants and organisms already have or are developing resistance to some of the chemicals being used. That requires the mixing of new, more toxic cocktails to be blended for them to be effective. I once heard an advertisement on the radio from a local agricultural chemical company claiming their knowledge of blending these more effective cocktails is the reason why farmers should give them their business.
Local bees and pollinators near large row crop farms are challenged by chemical use and the lack of timely, available forage that’s likely contaminated by pesticides, herbicides, and/or fungicides. Farmers stopped eating corn from their own fields over 50 years ago, yet it's still used it for livestock feed.
We are being flooded with declarations of how GMO crops and systemic and applied chemicals have been responsible for the declining numbers of honeybees and other pollinators the world over. This information can be as accurate or exaggerated as the media chooses, depending on their agenda. I'm not qualified as a scientist, a researcher, or a philosopher to discuss the problems and implications of all this. But, I am an old farm kid and a beekeeper who continues to observe what goes on around me, my hives, and the world of beekeeping. We're all in this together.
How is it that we've become so accustomed to chemical use? Their negative effects on us and our environment have been shown through research and decades of experience. If nothing else, it would seem common sense and observation would tell us the gallons/tons of chemicals being used on our crops, soils, and our yards each year cannot be used without having some effect on the world around us. Pesticides kill many insects, not just the honeybees. We cannot afford to forget the many, many other important pollinators that are being affected by the use of such chemicals. There is concern the mites in bee hives have become resistant to some of the treatments some beekeepers have been using. Other plants and organisms already have or are developing resistance to some of the chemicals being used. That requires the mixing of new, more toxic cocktails to be blended for them to be effective. I once heard an advertisement on the radio from a local agricultural chemical company claiming their knowledge of blending these more effective cocktails is the reason why farmers should give them their business.
Local bees and pollinators near large row crop farms are challenged by chemical use and the lack of timely, available forage that’s likely contaminated by pesticides, herbicides, and/or fungicides. Farmers stopped eating corn from their own fields over 50 years ago, yet it's still used it for livestock feed.
"The suffix -cide means to kill. So, insecticides kill certain insects, herbicides kill certain plants, miticides kill certain mites, etc. “Natural pesticides” are still -cides. Although many of these substances have specific targets, the biology of the area surrounding that target is also affected, either immediately or long-term. The word biocide gives us a big picture look at things over time and acknowledges the effects of the application beyond the specific target."
I have not lost great numbers of hives since I started keeping bees. There are so many factors working together affecting the life of a hive that are out of their control and our control. Sometimes they just don't survive. My fourth year was the first year I lost any hives and that was 4 of 40. In 2007, 5 years into beekeeping, I lost 20 of 60 hives over the winter. Chemicals were not responsible. Mites were not responsible. A combination of unfavorable spring, summer, and winter conditions. Just a bad year. That happens. Only 2 of 58 of my production hives were lost in 2013, although I did lose 8 of 14 of my smaller cut out and trap out hives. They were simply not strong enough to withstand the lack of forage due to the heat and drought. Then came the winter of 2013-14 when I lost 37 of 74 hives. The hives I’d been getting more and more calls to remove, that were doing so well, were hit hard, too. The number of calls for removals dropped noticeably in the summer of 2014. It was no big mystery, no Colony Collapse Disorder, no puzzling pests or diseases. All of Mother Nature took a 1-2-3 punch that year - a challenging fall, a very hard winter, and a wet, late spring. My increased losses in 2014 were many of the removed colonies from the summer of 2013 whose history's were unknown and didn't have the full summer to build up. Although the severe winter was no doubt the primary cause, some of the hives could have been more susceptible?
The honeybees are dying, they're disappearing.? The numbers don't show that in Illinois. In the 15 years between 2010 and 2025, the number of hives have almost doubled, from 20,547 to 38,243, and the number of beekeepers have more than doubled, from 1631 to 5423. That's an increase of 17,696 hives and 3792 beekeepers. Of the 5423 beekeepers, 80% are hobbyist with less that 10 hives, with 67% having less than 5 hives.
Caring for large numbers of anything requires a different attitude, methods, and goals than caring for just two or a few. Keeping laying hens in your backyard for a few eggs is different than keeping hundreds or thousands. Keeping a milk cow or two for a few buckets of milk is different than keeping a dairy. Keeping bees is different than livestock. There's a reason they're called colonies and not flocks or herds. They're bees. Keeping a few colonies of bees is different than anything else. My advice - keep your day job, and enjoy your bees. For their benefit, and for ours. Commercial beekeeping, commercial anything, is another category. Let's just enjoy our bees as hobbyists and sideliners.
Many of those experiencing the reported high colony losses are the larger beekeepers. The nature of large scale food production methods requires that large numbers of hives, usually kept four hives per pallet, often medicated and fed artificially, are closed up, then loaded and stacked on trucks, covered with a net, and moved for sometime days across country, to be opened and kept near crops to complete the required pollination, then closed up, loaded and stacked on trucks, covered with a net, and moved for sometime days across the country, to be placed in another mono-crop area for a couple of weeks for pollination, often with thousands of other hives, exposed to pathogens from all over, exposed to a variety of agricultural chemicals, and the process is repeated as needed. All necessary as a result of how we've chosen to produce food in large centralized farming operations.
The varieties of chemicals used in and around hives can build up in the wax, developing a toxic mix for the bees. There are indications some of these chemicals can negatively affect the bees' general health in all stages of their lives, the longevity of the queens, the foraging abilities of the workers, and the virility of the drones. Many studies. Many products. Many links to many studies of many of these products are easily found if you would like to do a search. It seems it's no longer a question of if the chemicals are harmful, we seem to have accepted they're harmful, we look past that. It's now a question of how harmful are they? What level of harm, what possible immediate effects, what known sub-lethal effects, what risk of potential damages have been accepted? They are approved, are being sold, and are recommended for use.
The honeybees are dying, they're disappearing.? The numbers don't show that in Illinois. In the 15 years between 2010 and 2025, the number of hives have almost doubled, from 20,547 to 38,243, and the number of beekeepers have more than doubled, from 1631 to 5423. That's an increase of 17,696 hives and 3792 beekeepers. Of the 5423 beekeepers, 80% are hobbyist with less that 10 hives, with 67% having less than 5 hives.
Caring for large numbers of anything requires a different attitude, methods, and goals than caring for just two or a few. Keeping laying hens in your backyard for a few eggs is different than keeping hundreds or thousands. Keeping a milk cow or two for a few buckets of milk is different than keeping a dairy. Keeping bees is different than livestock. There's a reason they're called colonies and not flocks or herds. They're bees. Keeping a few colonies of bees is different than anything else. My advice - keep your day job, and enjoy your bees. For their benefit, and for ours. Commercial beekeeping, commercial anything, is another category. Let's just enjoy our bees as hobbyists and sideliners.
Many of those experiencing the reported high colony losses are the larger beekeepers. The nature of large scale food production methods requires that large numbers of hives, usually kept four hives per pallet, often medicated and fed artificially, are closed up, then loaded and stacked on trucks, covered with a net, and moved for sometime days across country, to be opened and kept near crops to complete the required pollination, then closed up, loaded and stacked on trucks, covered with a net, and moved for sometime days across the country, to be placed in another mono-crop area for a couple of weeks for pollination, often with thousands of other hives, exposed to pathogens from all over, exposed to a variety of agricultural chemicals, and the process is repeated as needed. All necessary as a result of how we've chosen to produce food in large centralized farming operations.
The varieties of chemicals used in and around hives can build up in the wax, developing a toxic mix for the bees. There are indications some of these chemicals can negatively affect the bees' general health in all stages of their lives, the longevity of the queens, the foraging abilities of the workers, and the virility of the drones. Many studies. Many products. Many links to many studies of many of these products are easily found if you would like to do a search. It seems it's no longer a question of if the chemicals are harmful, we seem to have accepted they're harmful, we look past that. It's now a question of how harmful are they? What level of harm, what possible immediate effects, what known sub-lethal effects, what risk of potential damages have been accepted? They are approved, are being sold, and are recommended for use.
But ... it’s not just the biocides! … it’s not just the honeybees!
If we were to stop using the chemicals that kill plants & insects, but continue our large farming methods,
all of our pollinators will still be struggling to survive.
If we were to stop using the chemicals that kill plants & insects, but continue our large farming methods,
all of our pollinators will still be struggling to survive.
The Need for Forage
Native bees contribute an estimated $3 billion worth of crop pollination annually to the U.S. economy.
Pollinators have two basic habitat needs: a diversity of flowering native or naturalized plants, and egg-laying or nesting sites. Not just flowers and food in the summer but sticks and stems in the winter. Having natural habitat available significantly increases pollinator populations. Marginal lands such as field edges, hedgerows, sub-irrigated areas, and drainage ditches offer both nesting and foraging sites.
Do you see any of that in the following clip?
-A view of "spring planting is done" in many areas near my home.
Native bees contribute an estimated $3 billion worth of crop pollination annually to the U.S. economy.
Pollinators have two basic habitat needs: a diversity of flowering native or naturalized plants, and egg-laying or nesting sites. Not just flowers and food in the summer but sticks and stems in the winter. Having natural habitat available significantly increases pollinator populations. Marginal lands such as field edges, hedgerows, sub-irrigated areas, and drainage ditches offer both nesting and foraging sites.
Do you see any of that in the following clip?
-A view of "spring planting is done" in many areas near my home.
One of the biggest problems the bees and pollinators have, especially in agricultural areas--lack of available forage. Most of the land is either sprayed and/or farmed or mowed. Land prices are high, every square inch of tillable land is farmed. Big agriculture means fewer farms with livestock, if any. That means bigger fields and fewer fence rows to grow flowering weeds and wild flowers, and fewer pastures and cover crops. It means fewer nitrogen fixing clover fields used for the benefit of the soil. Fewer farmers are keeping livestock that require year-round daily care that need the hay from it, anyway. Row crops are profitable and fertilizers can be used to boost the soils.
The look of central Illinois farms have changed tremendously. Larger farms are the rule. In the 360° view above, at least 15 farmsteads have disappeared. Some were just places to live, but many were the family-type farm, Dad, Mom, & the kids, dogs, cats, garden, chickens, pasture for a few head of cattle & hogs, a few hundred acres of crops divided into 40, 60, maybe 80-acre fields, divided by fences or waterways. The township I live in is 36 square miles. In the last 65 years over 40 farmsteads are gone. Some were just a house and a shed or two. Many were what would have been called a typical family farm. Notice the yellowed patch of dirt on the right side of the opening shot of the video? That's from being mixed with the clay from the hole they dug to bury the house that I lived in there for 10 years, where my first child was born. The following pictures show the location of the homes my folks were raised in and the location where my folks raised me. All corn & soybean fields. House, barns, and sheds all pushed down, burned, and buried. Fences out and pastures plowed and planted. Some are now covered in a large solar panel project.
The look of central Illinois farms have changed tremendously. Larger farms are the rule. In the 360° view above, at least 15 farmsteads have disappeared. Some were just places to live, but many were the family-type farm, Dad, Mom, & the kids, dogs, cats, garden, chickens, pasture for a few head of cattle & hogs, a few hundred acres of crops divided into 40, 60, maybe 80-acre fields, divided by fences or waterways. The township I live in is 36 square miles. In the last 65 years over 40 farmsteads are gone. Some were just a house and a shed or two. Many were what would have been called a typical family farm. Notice the yellowed patch of dirt on the right side of the opening shot of the video? That's from being mixed with the clay from the hole they dug to bury the house that I lived in there for 10 years, where my first child was born. The following pictures show the location of the homes my folks were raised in and the location where my folks raised me. All corn & soybean fields. House, barns, and sheds all pushed down, burned, and buried. Fences out and pastures plowed and planted. Some are now covered in a large solar panel project.
Flowering weeds in the spring are sprayed with herbicides in no-till farming techniques. Roadsides are mowed and/or sprayed by farmers, line crews, and road crews, with some maintained better than some people's yards. And speaking of yards, leaves are raked or blown, grass is mowed often, and chemicals are being used, all to keep lawns pristine and weed free. Dandelions are very important spring plants for honeybees. How did it come about that not mowing your roadsides and not keeping your yards well-trimmed meant, well, something negative about the person or persons living there? It has been said that a well-manicured lawn is like a desert to honeybees, to pollinators. A well-trimmed lawn with chemical weed and insect control has the forage of a parking lot and on par with or possibly higher chemical levels than a farm field.
Maybe you can't keep bees, but you can be a beekeeper by helping to provide more and safer forage for them. You can make a difference. Don't use chemicals on your lawn. It's safer for kids and pets to play in, anyway. Plant a little something, plant a lot of somethings, or let what you already have grow. Let your dandelions grow. Let your clover grow. Mow only what you don't want. Mow less often or not at all if you can. Not only will it help the pollinators, but it will help life in general. Bees increase our awareness of things around us that we often over-look, and help to blur the line between flowers and weeds.
Urban Beekeeping
Summer of 2011 began something new for acbees apiaries, Chef Mike Higgins of Maldaner's Restaurant in downtown Springfield talked to me at the Old Capital Farmers Market about putting some hives on his roof. Urban beekeeping has become quite popular in cities in the US and Canada.
Keeping bees on a roof in downtown Springfield has had its challenges. Honey production is limited, not that forage can't be found, but the distance needed to fly to find it results in fewer trips in the time they have. Lost both of the hives there after the severe winter of 2013-14, along with many of my other hives in the area. I cut back to one hive that summer and won't put the second one back until it appears the location can support it. The yield has averaged only around 25-30 pounds in 2014 and 2015. The surplus honey produced in 2015 was very dark and creamy, unique to any other that's been produced there. Then a few years later, the hive produced 72 pounds, more than any other of my hives out of town.
Keeping bees on a roof in downtown Springfield has had its challenges. Honey production is limited, not that forage can't be found, but the distance needed to fly to find it results in fewer trips in the time they have. Lost both of the hives there after the severe winter of 2013-14, along with many of my other hives in the area. I cut back to one hive that summer and won't put the second one back until it appears the location can support it. The yield has averaged only around 25-30 pounds in 2014 and 2015. The surplus honey produced in 2015 was very dark and creamy, unique to any other that's been produced there. Then a few years later, the hive produced 72 pounds, more than any other of my hives out of town.
Lincoln Home National Historic Site
These hives at Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield, Illinois, were built from the plans of the 1852 patent Langstroth. They have a 4” portico, a removable back entrance, & six 1¼” holes in the bottom. The stand is designed with a 2” slope and an 8” canvas landing board. The patent for the original Langstroth hive was granted in the same historical period of Lincoln's neighborhood. There is no record of Abe ever keeping bees. I was able to find only a few references to Lincoln and bees:
As a child in Indiana Abraham Lincoln was used to eating honey, and a biography quoted the following from a letter written shortly
after his death: "Mr. Lincoln was very fond of honey. Whenever he went to Mr. Short's house he invariably asked his wife for some
bread and honey. And he liked a great deal of bee bread in it. He never touched liquor of any kind." - 68. N. W. Branson to William
H. Herndon. Petersburg Ill Aug 3. 1865
“I don't like to hear cut and dried sermons. No—when I hear a man preach, I like to see him act as if he were fighting bees.”
― Abraham Lincoln
"It is an old and a true maxim, that a "drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon of gall." So with men. If you would win a man to
your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend. Therein is a drop of honey that catches his heart, which, say what he will, is
the great highroad to his reason,..." -Abraham Lincoln, Temperance
Address of February 22, 1842 -Springfield, Illinois
As a child in Indiana Abraham Lincoln was used to eating honey, and a biography quoted the following from a letter written shortly
after his death: "Mr. Lincoln was very fond of honey. Whenever he went to Mr. Short's house he invariably asked his wife for some
bread and honey. And he liked a great deal of bee bread in it. He never touched liquor of any kind." - 68. N. W. Branson to William
H. Herndon. Petersburg Ill Aug 3. 1865
“I don't like to hear cut and dried sermons. No—when I hear a man preach, I like to see him act as if he were fighting bees.”
― Abraham Lincoln
"It is an old and a true maxim, that a "drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon of gall." So with men. If you would win a man to
your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend. Therein is a drop of honey that catches his heart, which, say what he will, is
the great highroad to his reason,..." -Abraham Lincoln, Temperance
Address of February 22, 1842 -Springfield, Illinois
