Did you know honeybees are protected? Did you know they are considered livestock? Did you know that honeybees will nest in any available void from a tree cavity to a wall void and everything in-between? If you answered yes to all three of those questions, you are the bees-knees and deserve a pat on the back.
You might be wondering what that has to do with pest control, let's look at a common scenerio. John calls because they have carpenter ants in their yard and he is concerned with them entering their home. Upon inspection you find the property has several trees throughout the yard that appear to have been damaged over the years and show signs of carpenter ant activity. One of these trees is close enough to the house that a trail of ant can been seen out foraging for food and water near the house. The ants can be seen crawling on the flowers and shrubs John and Mary have planted next to their house. You explain to the homeowners that the carpenter ants are tending the aphids so that they can collect the honeydew from the plants. You see, carpenter ants are actually farmers that are using the aphids to produce food for the carpenter ant colony.
John and Mary don't seem interested in why they are seeing the ants near their home, they just want them gone. They also don't want to make any changes to their landscaping. Unfortunately, John and Mary's choice in shrubs has made it virtually impossible to spray around the foundation of the home or the eaves and soffits as the flowers and shrubs were purchased specifically so that they would have flowers blooming all through the summer. During our conversation, I mention the beautiful banks of flowers and the shrubs which are in full bloom, they are beautiful! Mary blushes and John proudly points out the irrigation system they installed several years ago when the landscaping was done, several of the heads need to be readjusted as now they are watering the house more than the plants. Finding a thinner spot in the foilage I can see the signs of water damage on the bottom of their siding. Wasps nest can be seen in the roof peaks and the flowers literally hum with the buzzing of the honeybees. I point these things out to them and they merely shrug, unconcerned with the possible problems that could be heading their way.
I take a deep breath and begin my very rehersed speech. Pesticides are created to kill, they smile thinking all will soon be good and the carpenter ants will be a distant memory. Unfortunately, we are limited to where and when we can apply certain pesticides, we can't spray overtop your flowers or in other places where honeybees could come in contact with the pesticides. Mary scowls, but John seems unphased, surely there must be something we can do. We could apply a granular bait around the base of the plants that surround the house, but since the ants already have a steady supply of food thanks to the aphids and the honeydew they create, it would only have a limited effect until later in the season, so I suggest we wait and they monitor the situation since they currently are not seeing any carpenter ant activity inside their home, as of yet. I write down a list of changes that we recommend they make, remove the damaged trees and their stumps, change the landscaping to allow for neccessary air flow next to the house allowing for the home to dry out between rains, and adjusting the irrigation system so that the house isn't being watered regularly. They agree to consider the changes and we go our seperate ways.
Two years later John calls in a panic and says that they have wasps nesting in the house wall. Upon arrival I can see that no changes were made, my recommendations fell on deaf ears. John shows me the area where Mary was when she was stung repeatedly. I watch patiently and notice only honeybees. Gently I part the foilage as I follow the honeybees flight, to a rotted portion of siding with a hole the size of a dime. I motion to John to look for himself as the honeybees fly around me, he declines. We step back a safe distance to where his posture relaxes and he merely says, kill them, kill them all. I can't, you need to hire a beekeeper to come remove the hive, then you'll need to have the wall void opened up and the honeycomb removed otherwise you'll have a mold issue of epic proportions, I explain. John is livid, why won't I just do my job, he asks me pointedly. I am, I reply, knowing that no matter what I say it won't be what he wants me to say. Legally I am bound by the label on the pesticide. I tried to warn them, I tried to give them good sound advice on how to address issues that I could see when I was out 2 years ago and issues that I could see could be on the horizon. They opted to ignore my advice and now the price for Mary's hospital bills and the required repairs will greatly outweigh the costs of prevention.
It happens, too often and it saddens us every time we are called out to a situation such as this. Many time homeowners or someone on their behalf have already sprayed and we find the dead bodies of hundreds of honeybees, they thought they were yellowjackets, so they killed them. The first rule is to properly identify the insect in question. If we as a species, continue to use pesticides, willy nilly with no regards for the affects, we will find ourselves dying of hunger on a barren planet. Honeybees fall to so many predators and diseases, we don't need to compound the problem by allowing pesticides to drift onto anything that is considered a food source for them, thus making the very collection of food a death sentence to them. We must implement prevention as the standard and that starts with simple home maintenance!
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