I Love Farmers But...

Last year I asked my sister if I could put a hive of honeybees on her property, as she lives out in the country. She agreed, so I started a small colony in preparation for the installation. I am not sure how it happened, but it wasn't long before the bees became her bees. I painted up the boxes a nice shade of peach, loaded up the Jeep, and made the drive to Three Rivers. Diann was a bit sheepish around the bees, but curious and eager at the same time.  For the next several weeks she would give me reports on "her girls".


Diann's bees made it through the winter and are strong and healthy. If you talk to her about her bees, her voice changes. She becomes a young girl again, deeply and passionately in love. It happens to everyone who starts being kept by bees.


Every once in awhile I go to her home and help her check on the girls to see how they are doing. Her hive is the strongest and largest I have ever seen in my 8 years of beekeeping. Our Father designed a nifty water container that sits prominantly on top of the hive. These girls want for nothing.


Last night, my phone rang. It was Diann, sobbing so hard I could not understand a word she was saying. It didn't help we had a bad connection. I asked her to call me right back. Finally, I could make out something about an airplane, spraying, cornfield, bees.


Diann's property sits adjacent to an ag field currently planted in corn. She has spoken with the farmer about her bees and asked him to let her know if and when he was going to spray his fields. He agreed. Apparently something happened because he did not notify her of the aerial spraying that occurred last night.


When I heard her voice, I thought one of our parent's or her dog was killed, it was that frantic. She was devastated. So was I. And angry. Even though the spraying happened in the evening hours, the honeybees were still on the wing, flying back to their home.


There are no laws that prevent herbicide, fungicide, or pesticide drift. Farmers can spray five feet away from your property on a windy day and that poison can drift into your kitchen window and there is nothing you can do about it. They can spray from an airplane and if the drift of the spray happens to land on top of your apiary (bee yard), too bad for you and the bees.  There is a serious lack of regulation and you can bet Monsanto and their agribusiness friends will fight to keep it that way. Farmers can voluntarily tell the beekeepers he or she is going to spray so the beekeeper can keep their bees in their hives until it dries. Of course there are still effects on the bees through bringing treated pollen into the hive amoung other things. But what do you do if the farmer won't work with you? The fact is there is absolutely nothing you can do.


My friend Sylvia has bees at her home and an ag field adjacent to her property. One day the farmer was out spraying Roundup. She went out and asked him if he would move his sprayer over just two feet (he was spraying directly on the property line). He got angry and called her a very derogatory name. He continued his spraying and all she could do was watch. This was maybe thirty feet from her hives.


There was a little grassy patch on the corner of that field, which by the way is owned by the Township and leased by the farmer, that Sylvia and her husband had cleared of brush and mowed. The farmer came back later that day and doused it with Roundup.


Many of my ancestors were farmers. My maternal Grandparents were farmers. I love farmers. But the antiquated laws that govern their activities need to be revisited and revised in this day of dramatically escalated chemical use. Since the invention of Roundup ready crops, "weeds" have started to become resistant. This has resulted in an increase of herbicide use, not a decrease. To the tune of 383 million pounds! What kind of world are we leaving to the child yet born?


Diann tried calling the farmer last night only to get a busy signal each time she rang him. She will visit him today and find out what he sprayed and why he did not let her know. Only time will tell now how this will affect her beloved honeybees.


Please support organic farmers by purchasing organic meats, fruits, vegetables and grains. Educate yourself about natural alternatives to the harsh chemicals you have in your home and use in your yards and gardens. Remember that all life is a Circle, and everything we do, whether it is spraying a dandelion with RoundUP or salting our sidewalks, affects many species and is absorbed into the ecosystem. If we don't change our ways, we will lose our honeybees and alot more. And I don't want to hear my sister cry.