Tag Archives: pesticides

Where ARE all the pollinators?

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Yellowish Cuckoo Bumble Bee (Bombus flavidus)

Lots of folks are asking, “Where are the pollinators?”  I’m getting comments and questions about the absence of bees.  Should we be concerned? Probably.

It’s been a weird spring/summer with lots of temperature fluctuations.  That impacts when things bloom and what food is available.  Bumble bees can fly when the temperatures are lower and I did see and hear them when our Golden Chain tree was in full bloom about two weeks ago.   They may be on other blooming florals right now – like blackberries.  If you have Catmint (Nepeta), Lavender, and Tomatoes or Nasturtiums about, the bumble bees should find these in another week or so.   Usually I see them on Foxglove (Digitalis) and also in our Rhododendrons, but Foxglove is biennial and we don’t have any blooming this year, and I believe the Rhododendrons are already done blooming for the season.

In general though, I am noticing an overall decline in abundance of many insect species.  We have two above ground, freshwater pools for water catchment and in years past, there have been lots and lots of insects needing rescue because they fell in and couldn’t get out.  I was skimming bugs twice a day and this year, I might have found 4 or 5 needing rescue.  That’s 4 or 5 total – when I used to find 20-30 floating in the morning.

That said, there are a few species where populations seem quite abundant.  I’ve found lots of the tiny and very cute Broom Seed Beetles (Genus Bruchidius) everywhere in the yard.   If you see these little black peppercorn-sized beetles, they are friends (a biocontrol for scotch broom).  

Broom seed beetles on Nasturtium

So, is the overall decline in invertebrate populations because of climate change or something else?  I think the decline of invertebrate species is due to a multitude of factors:  habitat loss due to land use changes, weather fluctuations/climate change, introduction of pathogens as species move into previously unoccupied territory (due to climate shifts), but especially from pollution and contamination by all the products we use. These are additive and include anything and everything that leaves trace residues behind.   It’s multifactorial and complex.  Humans and our practices are altering ecosystems.  

How to help?  I don’t have any great answers.  Can the few who actually care initiate changes and change the minds of the masses of people who don’t care and don’t want to change?  Our education system isn’t helping.  We continue to promote attitudes (even as adults who should know better) that evoke fear responses around insects, spiders, (and don’t even get me started on snakes) in our children.  Instead of teaching children about ecology, biology, and life sciences, we shriek when we see a spider or a roach or mosquito and grab the can of raid.   We want to garden and seek out gardening advice, but historically, even the extension communities have been pretty un-environmental in their approach to insects.  For that matter, most of our Land Grant Universities’ agricultural and entomology  departments have been funded by the large agrochemical industry.  They have promoted use of pesticides over cultural practices.  The agrochemical industry makes tons of pesticides that are applied all over the world every year.  It’s a huge part of our economy.  MONEY trumps nature.

My advice? Be curious about what you are using.  Learn about ecology and food webs.  OBSERVE nature.  Investigate where your food comes from.  When you buy garden or landscape plants, ask the company about what practices they are using to grow these plants.  Choose native plants for landscaping.  Look around your home and read the labels on what products you are using – especially for any products going down the drain.   If you have pets, look up the ingredients on the products you use for treating fleas and ticks.  Flea and tick treatments have neonicotinoids that are excreted in urine and poo.  Ask your vet about alternatives. We all need to think about the implications of this.  Neonicotinoids are killing our pollinators and other invertebrates.  

References and further reading

Bonmatin JM, Giorio C, Girolami V, Goulson D, Kreutzweiser DP, Krupke C, Liess M, Long E, Marzaro M, Mitchell EA, Noome DA, Simon-Delso N, Tapparo A. 2015. Environmental fate and exposure; neonicotinoids and fipronil. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. Jan;22(1):35-67. doi: 10.1007/s11356-014-3332-7. Epub 2014 Aug 7. PMID: 25096486; PMCID: PMC4284396. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25096486/

Webb DT, Zhi H, Kolpin DW, Klaper RD, Iwanowicz LR, LeFevre GH. 2021. Emerging investigator series: municipal wastewater as a year-round point source of neonicotinoid insecticides that persist in an effluent-dominated stream. Environ Sci Process Impacts. May 26;23(5):678-688. doi: 10.1039/d1em00065a. PMID: 33889902; PMCID: PMC8159912. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8159912/

University of Sussex. 2020. Pesticides commonly used as flea treatments for pets are contaminating English rivers. ScienceDaily. 17 November http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201117085940.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201117085940.htm#:~:text=Researchers%20at%20the%20University%20of,far%20exceeded%20accepted%20safe%20limits

Beyond Pesticides. 2018. Victory! State Finds Imidacloprid Insecticide Too Risky For Use in Willapa Bay. Daily News Blog. https://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/2018/04/victory-imidacloprid-risky-use-sensitive-bay-permit-request-denied/

Beyond Pesticides. 2017. Poisoned Waterways. https://www.beyondpesticides.org/assets/media/documents/bp-37.1-PoisonedWaterways-cited2.pdf

You Have to Be More Careful With an Island – Please reconsider using those pesticides. They aren’t necessary.

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Button Designed and Produced by Nancy May Knapp of Orcas Island, WA

If you live in San Juan County, WA, my blog topic today is for you. I’m seeing some posts on social media lately about pest control that I’m not too crazy about. We have so many people moving to our island now, many bringing with them the mainland suburbia mentality of spraying insecticides all over their yards and homes. Can we help folks understand the slogan, “You Have To Be More Careful With an Island?” 

If you know someone who is concerned about caterpillars, ants, termites, wasps, mosquitoes, or spiders, and they are willing to talk to someone (me), I am more than happy to take a phone call or email to answer questions on how to AVOID use of unnecessary chemicals that can pose health risks to humans, pets, wildlife, and contaminate soil and water.  Most , if not all, use of pest control services are completely unnecessary.   Instead, learning about these organisms can go a long way to reducing fear and being able to coexist and/or tolerate living with them around our homes and properties.  Some species of bugs are extremely critical to keeping our ecosystem healthy and balanced.  ALL of them are part of the greater food web.   With the intense development and land use changes happening in the islands, we need to remember to landscape with intentionality towards keeping our island healthy and oriented towards providing habitat for native species instead of displacing everything.  

How to spread the word? You can message me here. I will respond. You may also reach me on Facebook at Bugs of the San Juan Islands. It’s a great spot to learn about the amazing bugs we have living alongside us.

Thanks for reading!

Is our fear of murder hornets turning us into the real murderers?

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A neighbor sent me this video footage late last night.  She asks, “Why are all the black and yellow bumble bees on the ground dying?”  This occurred locally at an island lavender farm where the bumble bees are LOVED and no one is applying any pesticides.  In the video you can certainly see the bees she refers to.  Why only those?  

The dying bees are the lovely Yellow-Faced bumble bees, Bombus vosnesenskii.  I personally appreciate these because not only are they avid tomato pollinators, but they have such adorably chubby and fuzzy bodies with a yellow face and a yellow band around their little black bottom. 

Bombus vosnesenskii, Yellow-faced Bumble Bee

Bumble bees are cavity nesters.  Many will select an empty mouse burrow in the ground to create their nest. The fertilized queen overwinters and begins her colony in late March or early April, foraging for herself and the eggs she laid that would soon hatch into larvae needing to be fed.  

Bumble bee nest on San Juan Island, WA 2010

In order to obtain nutrients necessary for survival, bumble bee foragers can travel long distances (up to 11 miles), especially here as our growing season ends in summer.  Right now, they are visiting the lavender in bloom.

These poor bees are most likely victims of pesticide.  The fact that all of them are the same species, at the same location, indicates to me that someone applied pesticide at their nest site, likely a property owner within foraging distance of the worker bees visiting the lavender farm.  The workers dispersed from the nest to try to do what they are programmed to do (forage for food), but simply succumbed to the toxic residues that some fearful homeowner applied.  

“I can’t have bees in my yard!”  “I’m allergic.”  “I have pets.”  “I hate insects.” “It could be murder hornets.”  

Do you want to have food? 

If you, as a homeowner, continue spraying your yard every time you see a bee and can’t learn to live with them, you are going to be the end of all of us.  Bumble bees are some of our most important agricultural pollinators.  More important than honey bees!  

The dying bees in this video are native bees.  “Native” means they are adapted to this environment.  They have the ability to survive here better than European honey bees (Apis mellifera) which are not native.  Honey bees were transported to North America by Europeans who brought sheep, cattle, swine, and other domesticated species to this continent.  

Back to the over-sensationalized “murder hornets.”  This term makes me angry!  😡 The media hype is much like the hype over the mantids that are going to eat our hummingbirds !  Just because it is printed in the paper doesn’t mean it is the whole truth or entirely accurate.  The primary reason the Asian Giant Hornet (Vespa mandarinia) is of concern is their ability to kill European honey bees (Apis mellifera), an agricultural commodity.  To read some of the news stories, you’d think we were dealing with Africanized Bees…remember those? 

It is possible Vespa mandarinia will not survive here.  They aren’t native.  They will be susceptible to parasites, and viral, bacterial, and fungal diseases (not unlike the same problems our non-native European honey bees face) potentially making it difficult for populations to establish themselves.   We could also, as many Asians do, learn to eat them. Yes, do read the publication about them in my references section!

Please put that can of pesticide away.  Don’t spray.  If you are truly afraid of bees, then educate yourself about how to live alongside them.  First off, don’t wear shades of blue or black colors when you’re near an area that has bees.  Bumble bees and honey bees are attracted to these colors.  Avoid wearing fragrances.  Wash your clothing in unscented detergent and avoid using those noxious, heavily scented dryer sheets.  Finally, if you do see an insect that you believe is the Asian Giant Hornet, take a photo or collect the specimen if it is already dead and contact WSU following these guidelines. 

In Washington State only, people should report potential sightings of the AGH through the Washington State Department of Agriculture’s website. Outside of Washington, contact your state apiary inspector. If it is safe to do so, take a photo or collect a dead specimen of the pest to help experts identify the insect.

In the meantime, please don’t fall victim to media hype and do your best not to murder innocent bumble bees!   

References and further reading: 

Bombus vosnesenskii. Bugguide.net https://bugguide.net/node/view/19538

John M. Mola, Neal M. Williams. (2019) A review of methods for the study of bumble bee movement. Apidologie 56. 

Jha, Shalene, and Claire Kremen. (2019) Resource diversity and landscape-level homogeneity drive native bee foraging. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America vol. 110,2: 555-8. doi:10.1073/pnas.1208682110

Sujaya Rao, George Hoffman, Julie Kirby & Danielle Horne (2019) Remarkable long-distance returns to a forage patch by artificially displaced wild bumble bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae), Journal of Apicultural Research, 58:4, 522-530, DOI: 10.1080/00218839.2019.1584962

(Vespa mandarinia) Asian giant hornet. New Pest Response Guidelines. (2020) USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Plant Protection and Quarantine. https://cms.agr.wa.gov/WSDAKentico/Documents/PP/PestProgram/Vespa_mandarinia_NPRG_10Feb2020-(002).pdf