…reads the headline of my letter to the editor last week.
Welcome to the Bandon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge
The Bandon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge
has a mosquito problem. During summer high tides, water fills holes that don’t drain back out. Pools provide habitat for the salt marsh mosquito, Aedes dorsalis. People that live near the marsh complain that they can’t go outside without mosquitos biting them. “It’s hard to get to the car from the back door without several mosquito bites.” I can’t mow my yard without several layers of clothing.” “I love to garden, but I feel like I’m under house arrest, because the mosquitos are so vicious.” The motels have had cancellations, the real estate people can’t show houses, and the golfers are getting eaten alive.
Pressure to DO SOMETHING NOW drove the decision to aerial spray not just the 300 acres of the Marsh, but another 10,000 to 12,000 acres of outlying area. That’s when I heard about it. Shigeo Oku, vice-president of Coos County Beekeepers Association called to warn me. “Pat, they are going to spray near your place. You better do something about it.” I’m thinking “Whaaat? The Marsh is a few miles away. They wouldn’t spray all the way down here.” Maybe I better call the newspaper and get a look at that spray map.
The Bandon Marsh is a few miles from me…why do they have to spray so close to me?
I called the county to confirm. Yes, indeed, they are planning to spray, near my house (and hives) probably next week!
“The spraying that will be done outside of the marsh targets grown mosquitos only (not larva). Also it (Dibrom) is in a very small concentration, ¾ ounce per acre, which will ensure that it is not strong enough to effect anything larger than a mosquito, it does not kill larva, and it cannot penetrate water.”
We look up Dibrom and get NoSpray.org Hummm, that sounds pretty bad, let’s look up another one. Uh-oh, it’s definitely BAD! “Very toxic to bees.” I call the county back. “Hey, I’m a beekeeper. That spray can drift over and kill my bees!”
“Just cover your hives for a while. Put your phone number on the hot line and we’ll call you when we are planning to spray.” The county sends me a fact sheet. “Dibrom immediately begins to breakdown upon release of the spray droplets in the open air. Dibrom also breaks down rapidly in water and in sunlight.”
Well, that doesn’t sound too bad, maybe it’ll be okay. Just to make sure I’m calling the Oregon State University Honeybee Department. I’m referred to Ramesh Sagili, (Honeybee Research and Extension Entomologist), who stated that “the residual toxicity for Dibrom is TWO DAYS!” Sagili says if the pesticide lands on a blooming plant (like a dandelion) and if the honeybee forages on that plant, the honeybee will be poisoned, for up to two days after the pesticide has been sprayed. I can’t cover my hives for two days.
That’s what prompted my letter to the editor. When I read the newspaper next day, I see other people have written, most notably the Xerces Society urging the US Fish and Wildlife Service NOT to spray.
Just about that time our friendly librarian, who knows how we feel about our bees, calls us with the name of a person who is actively monitoring the situation by attending all the meetings with the County Commissioners. We call Chris Wiggins. She tells us at a recent meeting, the County Public Health Official has offered to hold a town hall meeting to answer questions from the public. We tell Chris we know of a friendly local printer who would be willing to print posters advertising the meeting. Posters are posted, notices are handed out, radio stations are called. We go to the meeting Monday evening hoping we get enough people to let the county know “WE DON’T WANT THE SPRAY!” I bring copies of Dibrom MSDS sheets. (See environmental Hazards on page 2)
Happily there were too many people for the scheduled room. A bigger room was provided. The meeting can be best described here.
Most of the people were against spraying. A few people said “Please spray…My life has been turned upside down because of those (bleeped) mosquitos.” I had to sympathize with them even though I was against the spraying. I think the single argument that swayed the commissioners most came not from people wanting to save the bees and other wild pollinators and insects, nor from the people worried about a health risk, but from the cranberry farmers.
The cranberries will soon be harvested. If they show any pesticide residue, (they measure in parts per trillion) their entire crop can be rejected. Several growers asked pointed questions…”Does that pesticide specifically state ‘safe for cranberries‘ in the literature?” “We can’t spray anything past July.” “Are you sure there won’t be any residue on my berries?” “What if my crop is rejected?”
Two days later, again at the County Commissioner’s meeting at the Courthouse, it was announced the Dibrom (adulticide mosquito spray) was cancelled. MetaLarv, which is highly toxic to a wide range of aquatic insects and crustaceans would still take place on only 300 acres directly on Bandon Marsh. While we felt bad for the wildlife that would be poisoned by the larvacide, we breathed a huge sigh of relief knowing our bees dodged a bullet. We are hoping the US Fish and Wildlife Service will now adopt an Integrated Pest Management system to prevent this from happening again.
I am not of the opinion of many people that we should replace the flood gates to keep that area for farming. When we first came to the area that was a dairy farm. We hauled truckloads of cow manure to our bountiful garden. The dairy farm has been gone for many years now. If this spot is deemed good for wildlife protection and things like carbon storage then it’s a good thing. but please don’t let the mosquitos get out of control again.
Salt Marsh, a great place to store carbon.
Aerial map of Bandon Marsh showing close proximetry of cranberry bogs, Bullards Beach State Park, and lower Coquille Estuary. Photo courtesy of National Scenic Byways Online (www.byways.org)
Footnote: In a conversation with a cranberry farmer, I learned that at least one of them uses the dreaded neonicotinoids on their crop.
Adventures in Natural Beekeeping 
What a relief, the original plans were for a vast area! And 300 acres still sounds a lot to me. I hate getting mosquito bites too so can sympathise with the locals – but before all these sprays in the past people would have had to accept that was one of the consequences of living next to a marshy area.
Well the Marsh was put in only about two years ago. No mosquito problem before, so everyone affected thinks it’s the Marsh that is the problem (and not the weird weather that led up to it). There are some people who don’t care for environmentalists. I think that’s because there are many jobs at stake with the timber industry. I can see both sides. I think we ought to set aside areas to protect the wildlife, but I’m also proud that our area can grow trees for lumber. If we could get the timber industry to log sustainably, not spray, and replant with some variety, that would be the ideal thing. Also I’m not too keen on logging old growth. Paul Stamets has a TED talk about the importance of old growth. http://www.ted.com/talks/paul_stamets_on_6_ways_mushrooms_can_save_the_world.html If you don’t have time to watch the whole thing, start in at about 10 minutes in. Fascinating stuff on mycellium. That’s one reason why I wanted to start a hugelkulture bed.
Reblogged this on Localista and commented:
Interested in the plight of bees and the role they play in our food supply? This is a good blog, and this post is an example of how easily we can overlook all the ramifications of an action intended to solve one problem and thus causing more problems.
Good for you taking action! Because of your blog and other beekeepers, I was inspired to plant many more bee-good plants in my garden boxes this year. The insect population–bumblebees and little tiny bees and wasps of all sizes and dragonflies and butterflies–was much, much higher this summer. I sure enjoyed watching them crawling and flying around in the herbs and flowers. Thank you for your inspiring words and projects and photos.
Thanks for your kind words, Shelley. I’m so glad to hear your flowers brought about more insect activity. We love to see so many dragon flies, butterflies, bees, and yes, even wasps flying patterns above our garden. So much life!
I’ve been to Bandon many times! I had no idea they sprayed.
This is the first time they’ve ever sprayed (for mosquitos) I’m sincerely hoping the US Fish and Wildlife will adopt an Integrated Pest Management system that won’t need these pesticides anymore. We are lucky they cancelled the Dibrom spray, but according to the Xerces Society, “The larvicide to be used on the Refuge, MetaLarv, interferes with the development of all aquatic insects, not just mosquitoes, is highly toxic to crustaceans including crabs, shrimp, and crayfish, and is toxic to fish, including federally listed salmon.”
HOW CAN THEY APPLY THIS PESTICIDE WHEN IT IS TOXIC TO AQUATIC LIFE? AREN’T THEY SUPPOSED TO BE PROTECTING THEM???
Power to the people! Glad you managed to have a hand in stopping this, I hope your voice is heard far and wide and makes more people think down the line who can try and change this crazy policy.
Honey bee populations around the world are in decline due to causes ranging from ‘super mites‘ to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and even cell phones – and if the insects disappear completely the planet’s ecosystems would be in peril. The issue has become so dire that now a team of Harvard and Northeastern University scientists are working on a swarm of miniature Robobee robots that could pollinate flowers and do the job of real bees if required.
Speaking to Scientific American, the team leaders said: “In 2009 the three of us began to seriously consider what it would take to create a robotic bee colony. We wondered if mechanical bees could replicate not just an individual’s behavior but the unique behavior that emerges out of interactions among thousands of bees. We have now created the first RoboBees—flying bee-size robots—and are working on methods to make thousands of them cooperate like a real hive.”
Let’s hope it doesn’t come down to needing robobees. I would hate to rely on them for pollinating our food, but I suppose it would be cheaper than hand pollination.
Maybe a company whose name begins with an M funded the study. These fools will never be able to match 50 million years of evolution. Could be it’s a stalling strategy to give them a few more years of spraying.
The hog “farmers” tried that with the MRSA contagion. They had attorneys denying everything, playing hardball. And now MRSA has crossed over into people.
The revised NW extension pamphlet on protecting bees from pesticides notes that it is impractical to ask beekeepers to cover their hives. Good info for your next round with the county– though I hope you don’t have one.
The pamphlet is here in case the county wants an “official” voice on your side.
Thanks for helping care of the natural creatures that share our world.
Madronna
I had an experience with the local people here (West Tennessee) about spraying for mosquitos that left me with a bad taste in my mouth for sure. My dog is outside in a pen, and I called up to find out when they would be spraying so that I could put him in the house during the event. Not one person could tell me what the schedule was, and in fact their first reaction was to tell me that they had stopped spraying completely. I knew this not to be true, since we had seen them spray in the middle of the night about a month before. They gave me a phone number, which nobody answered. So, what’s up with all these people? All I wanted was to be able to protect my dog.