# Newbie Advice needed - Did Pam Cooking spray poison my bees?



## blue (Apr 21, 2011)

Newbie here needing advice on what is wrong with my bees. I have no idea if the loses I am seeing on my bees are normal, due to disease or pesticide?

I installed my first package 3 1/2 weeks ago - the queen is laying great, there are 6 frames filled with capped brood, eggs larvae, nectar and pollen. However the bees have already made 4 supercedure cells with larvae in them. I was advised to cut them out and see if they rebuild them but have not done so yet. They are also bringing in minimal pollen even though it is available and instead have consumed almost an entire pollen patty. They have taken less than a quart of sugar syrup.

When I first installed my package I saw 50-100 crawling bees and I assumed they were just normal package loses. Since then there have been what I guess would be normal amounts of 8 or less bees per day dead or dying in front of the hive in addition to the ones the undertakers carry out and drop. I have seen some bees crawling around and a few wingless or one winged bees.

Yesterday I decided to do a mite count and sprayed my sticky board with PAM cooking spray and put it in the screened bottom board. Overnight we had strong winds and rain and when I went to check on the bees today the sticky board had blown forward so it was sticking out of the hive and some bees were landing in the cooking spray when leaving the hive. In front of the hive were approximately 50 dead or dying bees with their tongues sticking out and legs twitching and several crawling bees.There was only one mite found on the board. 

I heard that if bees die with their tongues sticking out it means they are poisoned. Is this true and could it have been from the Pam cooking spray? Or do my bees have something else going on and that is why they are replacing the queen? Am I just being a paranoid newbie beekeeper? Thanks for your help and here are pictures of my poor dead bees -


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## Ravenseye (Apr 2, 2006)

It's not terribly uncommon for a new package to replace their queen the first year. Sometimes that effort begins right away. I generally trust the bees and let them handle the situation. I don't think that PAM is a poison to bees but it may very well be. Nevertheless, the typical use is the way you've applied it. Weather conditions exposed the PAM to your bees more than usual so if that knocked down a few, don't sweat it. I also wouldn't be overly concerned with a mite count right yet. I think the colony will bounce back once that brood emerges and your colony strength increases. I'd keep an eye on the queen since the bees initially had their concerns. Beyond that, I'd keep feeding if they're taking it at all and if the queen seems to be failing, consider letting them replace her or replacing her yourself. I know that losing a new queen in a new package is disappointing but it seems to happen more frequently than ever before. Maybe it's me!


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## blue (Apr 21, 2011)

Thanks Ravenseye for the reassurance! It's hard to determine what is normal as a new beek and I really appreciate the advice. It's also sad to see all those dying bees and realize it's probably my fault - although I'm sure this won't be the last time that happens.


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## Omie (Nov 10, 2009)

Why use Pam _spray_ at all? The propellent in the spray is bad for the environment, expensive, and unnecessary. Just cut to the chase and use regular veg oil from a bottle and apply it with an old BBQ brush or paintbrush, or even just smear it on the board with a piece of paper towel.

I see a _Boardman_ feeder there- perhaps there have been some neighboring bees coming to rob your feeder and your bees are battling them, causing the sudden large number of casualties you are seeing in front of the hive now.


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## blue (Apr 21, 2011)

Thanks Omnie - I'll try that next time. I never use PAM cooking spray normally because of those reasons so I probably should have done veggie oil in the first place - live and learn. I removed the boardman feeder yesterday and replaced it with a hive top jar feeder to see if they would take the syrup better. Although I don't think it was robbing that killed them because the hive is very visible from my house and I did not see any unusual activity, but if it was robbing then hopefully removing the boardman feeder will stop that. Thanks for your help!


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