By I{elly Davis

Independent· Mall

A Clemson University
entomologist is urging loc al
governments nor to throw
their bees out wirh the bath
water as they step up spray­
ing oper a t ions in the era of
West Nile encephalitis..
Malathion an d
Permethrin. two chemicals
used for adult mosquito
control. are dea dly to wild
and domestic honeybees. as
well as bum b le bee s and
other insects that pollinate
many plants that feed peo­
ple and wildlife. bee special·
ist Mike Hood said. A queen bee (the long-est bee in the middle) wonders
Fortunately. most cities through her hive at Flat Shoals Bee Farm on Sunday. '
and counties spray in the
evening, when many mos­
quito species are active but Malathion and d oes n t start
' have spread' througholl t
bees are settled in their chugging until after 9 p.m. most of the state, deva stat ­

hives for the evening. he or 9:30 p.m . he said.

sa id.
"The worst-case scena rio
would be spraying a resid­
�al insecticide during day­
. ing wild and kept hives. The
"We will give priority to triple threat ha s virtually
someone who doesn't want wiped out wild honey bee
an area sprayed whether
, colonies and ca us ed great
because of health or bees, los.ses for b eekee p ers he
.

lIght hours when beneficial over someone who does." he said.

said. Honeybees. including
in sects are foraging," he
One of the most trou­ 25,000 colonies managed by
said.
�l ing mosquito species, the 2.000 beekeepers, poliinate
However, even after dusk
Imported Asian tiger mos­ $25 million worth of com­
-

spraying could harm bees if

quito. is a day flier and isn't mercial fruit and vegeta·
it oc cur s near bee hives
contr?lled by even ing bles annually in South
since the pesticides ma y spraymg anyw ay, said Bob Carolina, not to mention
land on flowers or in water
Bellinger, p est i c ide coordi­ untold num b ers of wildlife
the bees later' con t a ct he
nator in C lem son food plants, he
said. Mr. Hood urges bee­
University's Department of said."Another serious blow
'

keepers to ask thei r local

Entomology. to our industry could be
governm ents to skip over
Asian tiger mosquitoes devastating," he said.
them during spraying.
r�pro duce in small puddles, While sprayed pesti c ides
Anderson County recent­
b ird baths. beer cans, tires may linger for a day or two
ly switched from a s pray­
.

tree holes and any other on the ground 01' on vegeta­

on-request program to a
st a n ding w at er availab le tion. any res idu al amount
n ightly spraying schedUle
.

he sa id. The bes t defense is is less of a threat because it

because demand has sky­
to continual] y el im ina t e tends to bind with whatever
rocketed. Environmental
that water. he said. su rfa c e it lands on , M r
Services D ire c tor Vic
.

Honeybees have enough B ellin ger sa id

C a rp enter said. His employ­
.

to wClrry about, Mr. Hood However, Anderson bee­

ees have divided the coun ty
said. Three pests - two keeper Bill Cavedo sa i d
into zones and sp ray in a
types of p aras itiC mites and
different zone each night.
t h e small hive beetl e
The county truck uses Please see Bees. Page 2B

From Page 18
bees need a lot of water aDd
therefore may take insecticide
up that has landed in standing
water.
''All they do is feed a little to
the queen, and that's it," he
said.
In fact, Permethrin is not
supposed to be sprayed within
e s
100 feet of any open water, Me
Bellinger said.
Mr. Cavedo has one hive at
h.is home in the city of
Anderson and one on property
in the county, but he said he
won't make a "no-spray"
request because he and his
neighbors would prefer to have
fewer mosquitoes, he said.
For Robert Clarkson. hive
mites are more of a priority
than avoiding mosquito
sprays. The Anderson County
beekeeper lost a dozen hives to
mites several years ago.
His current hives are far
away from any road the coun­
ty's spray truck might trundle
down in the evening. he said .