Thank you Laura for your words of wisdom, caution, and advice. I keep bees in Orleans and have not suffered a collapse, yet. Funny to read this today, as I have a giant swarm from a neighboring colony 50 ft up in a cedar tree in my yard tonight. The pesticide situation makes me absolutely nutty. We know that this stuff should be banned from common use, maybe all use, nation wide, but on the Cape, with our fragile ecosystem existing on a sieve that drains to estuaries and ponds, why the heck can't we find a way to be a designated Green Zone and clear all the local shelves of Round-Up?!? I was shocked, dismayed and disgusted to see my local Shaw's supermarket put up a big display rack of Round-Up immediately inside the main entrance. What a lovely thing to pass by on the way to gather food. I really wish we could stop the insanity, and our bees would benefit. School systems and park departments should be first to stop using toxic chemicals to keep our towns green (what an ironic description.) Make all town greens truly green!
Thank you Alexandra for hosting this guest post. If it stops one homeowner from buying a bucket of chemicals to obliterate their dandelions with, then it is hopefully the beginning of a revolution.
-Bethany