# Mosquito truck spraying poison near my hives



## onestory (May 30, 2016)

My local goobermint pays a contractor to spray for mosquitos using a truck mounted fogger. I want them to stop but they say it benefits the children, pregnant, elderly and sick so who am I to want those helpless groups to suffer and die of mosquito-born illnesses. I'm trying to reach a compromise with them.

My nearest neighbor is a couple hundred yards away and then double that to the next neighbors. They say I'm on the list of addresses to not spray but they turn off the poison when they reach one corner of my property and back on as they pass the other corner. Well, my property is only around 2 acres and I have my hives in the corners so they are as far away from the house as possible. The poison fog just floats across my property... They guy running the truck is probably paid minimum wage and half-asleep so if/when the poison spray stops/starts varies.

They say that the bees are all safe in their hives at night when they spray. I say, like a lot of beekeepers in my area, I have ventilated hives and the surest way to kill all of them is when they are all together in their hives at night.

They say that it is saving lives. I say that the insects at the bottom of the food chain reproduce faster and in greater numbers than the predators above them so spraying them and their predators is actually resulting in more mosquitos...

They say it is now mandated that the entire area is sprayed and that, short of changing the ordinance, I have to deal with it.

They say that the poison isn't harmful to my family but we are trying to enjoy our evening on our screened patio or playing hide-and-seek in the yard or enjoying an evening by the campfire, etc... It's so darn hot where I live that, in order to enjoy the outdoors during the summer months, nighttime is sometimes our only option. They say that it isn't harmful to my chickens and other animals... I say, "drink some"....they say, "uhhhh, NO!"

What I plan to do next is to find out exactly what is being sprayed so I can do more research. Maybe I'm over-reacting..?
I also plan to require that they post or notify me far in advance of their spray schedule so that I can close up my hives and get them to not spray when I have planned family outdoor events.

Do you have experience with this?
Have you successfully "fought the law" and won?
Advice???


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## AvatarDad (Mar 31, 2016)

I feel sorry for your situation and wish you luck.

If moving the hives is not an option, I think I would consider that old robbing solution: drape a wet sheet over the hives. Hopefully, the wet cloth would absorb/mitigate a lot of the cloud and protect the bees. I have no idea how effective this would be, btw. It might do nothing at all. Still, it cannot be worse than doing nothing, I guess.

is there a local bee club? Having allies would be a benefit to you....


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## 1102009 (Jul 31, 2015)

I´m sorry too.

It´s not much use spraying the mosquitos when breeding places, like water holes, are not treated. They could use a kind of harmless oil spray for this so the brood cannot breath.

The mosquitos are more and more a problem here. Asiatic mosquitos bring sickness.

Because spraying is dangerous and not very helpful an italien science team started to make male mosquitos sterile by gamma ex-rays.

http://www.n-tv.de/wissen/Deutschland-sagt-Tigermuecken-den-Kampf-an-article19939539.html


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

Time to check on your local bee ordinance to see what is in your favor. If not then
consider moving the hives back to your property line away from the spray. Two acres is a lot of room to
move your hives back there. As for family time, be sure to gather everyone to go inside because 
chemicals that killed the mosquito might also cause cancer later on to us human. I will never 100% believe what
the spraying guy said about not harming animals or human. Until you are sure what they used then 
take 100% precaution. Do not take his words for it. Any chemical accumulated a lot (prolong exposure) in the body will have
a chance to develop it and weaken the immune system too. Because this is local you have to contact the right.
department, might be the park district or something else?, to find out. Until you find out stay away and move the hives
as far as you can from the spray.


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## onestory (May 30, 2016)

beepro said:


> Time to check on your local bee ordinance to see what is in your favor. If not then
> consider moving the hives back to your property line away from the spray. Two acres is a lot of room to
> move your hives back there. As for family time, be sure to gather everyone to go inside because
> chemicals that killed the mosquito might also cause cancer later on to us human. I will never 100% believe what
> ...


On my 2 acres, I have two houses, a shed, a large barn and lots of young family running around. Family comes first so the bees are regulated to the corners of the property with the entrances facing away. Three corners and two sides of my property border roads and two of those corners/sides have neighbors driving, walking to check their mail, cutting grass, riding ATVs, etc...so I'm already keeping the bees in the remaining corners. The most convenient corner is next to one of the two roads that get sprayed. 
Maybe a map would help....


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

My experience was that it did a lot of damage when they fogged in the daytime. It did very little damage when they fogged after dark.


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

Your answer are these landscape or weed guard fabrics. There are many
different types by different company. I like the brown color one as they are more
dense rated for 10 years. The fabric lined on one side and plastic on another side with small holes for ventilation is good too.
I've tried 4 different type already. They are all o.k. with different application including the black plastic fabric one.
They are sold by the roll at your local garden store or online auction sites. Put a few metal stock fence posts around
the area that the spray head is aiming toward your hives. And tie string on the fabric corner and then secured them on
the metal post. You are simply creating a barrier to prevent the fog from hitting your hives. You can also put a hive cover
over the hive entrance temporary until the spray is done. Use a double layers of these landscape fabrics to make a double
barrier defense #1 and a few feet #2. If you want the long lasting 20 years then get the better one sun and wind proof heavy duty
fabric for a 3rd defense barrier. These are a bit heavier than the lighter landscape fabric one. Pic# 3 below. 
I use the black fabric as sunshade for my hives. The brown one on the ground for weed guard as they are more dense and tougher. The heavy duty one to cover the bags of cow manure (fertilizer.) I'm sure you can find the thicker fabric for your hive situation. I would use a UV stable large trap or the big mover's blanket to line the fence if there is one near your property line where the hives are. Though the cheapest way still is the landscape weed guard fabric UV stabilized.


Different type of landscape fabrics:


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## Hive5ive (Nov 21, 2015)

Sorry to hear about your issue. In my locality we have crop dusters and corporate ag sprayers. It's tough to chase down an airplane... I had a flag company make up 4'x5' black and yellow flags for me. They are easy to see from the air and from the neighboring fields. Some of you may have seen the little ones, called bee aware flags. The folks spraying know what they mean. I try to keep extras in stock and educate folks to look out for them. (I'd post a picture but have to figure that one out) one on each side of the property seems to work.


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## photobiker (Mar 23, 2015)

I remember reading here on the forum a few years back that someone built a misting system over their hives. Their reasoning was that the fine water mist would knock down/dilute the chemicals. Just cut it on when the truck approaches. If you had some kind of schedule you could put it on a timer for a hour before and a hour after to cover schedule irregularities. Beepro's idea might be better because it covers them 24/7.


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## SoylentYellow (Dec 10, 2013)

photobiker said:


> I remember reading here on the forum a few years back that someone built a misting system over their hives. Their reasoning was that the fine water mist would knock down/dilute the chemicals. Just cut it on when the truck approaches. If you had some kind of schedule you could put it on a timer for a hour before and a hour after to cover schedule irregularities. Beepro's idea might be better because it covers them 24/7.


Mosquito adults ULV sprays use the same 2 classes of insecticides outside the hives that bee keepers use to treat for mites inside the hives. Around here beeks are used to mosquito control and like the OP place their hives as far off the road as possible. MC applies at sunset.

So mostly people don't do anything, but if it helps you sleep better this is what I think you were talking about:
http://www.colonialbeekeepers.org/index.php/educational-information1/194-protecting-bees-against-aerial-spraying

A suggestion would be to do this for only half the hives to see if you are wasting your time. (unless you have been sleeping better )


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