My day as a (dead) bee keeper

On my way to work this morning I noticed scores of dead and dying bees on the sidewalks. I might not have noticed on any other day, but today I walked past the elms near Old Main. I was rather concerned since colony collapse disorder is in the news and I had never seen so many bees. I contacted Maryann Frazier, the Entomology department's Senior Extension Associate (person that works with the public). I noted that I had seen elm spraying warnings on some trees yesterday and that might be the cause. She was also concerned and asked me to collect samples of the bees for pesticide analysis.

Armed with two Ziploc bags and some old SEM sample tweezers, I retraced my steps and collected all the dead and dying bees I could find. The first thing that struck me when I started looking was the scope of the problem. Many varieties of insects were laying on their backs, struggling weakly to move. Bumblebees were the most affected by far, but I also collected assorted wasps, june bugs, lady beetles, assorted flies, cicadas (which might have been dying of natural causes) and even a cockroach. After about an hour of searching, the bee bag was filled to half capacity with buzzing, twitching casualties. I would estimate over a hundred. The other bag was a quarter full of miscellaneous writhing, clicking victims. I got quite a few stares and inquiries about why I was walking around campus with open bags full of live, stinging insects. It was a little fun to play bug hunter for a day, but the plight of the bees was thoroughly depressing.

I observed the density of bee corpses around campus and found that under the elm trees near Ritenour and McAllister there were dozens of bees and other insects. The area under the elms near Old Main were similarly affected. However, where there were no elms, along College Ave. and Shortlidge Road, there were only a handful of bodies. The exception on Shortlidge Road was a single elm next to the Grange building which had a spraying warning sign and dying bees including one that fell from the tree while I was collecting them. The smoking gun.

I froze the specimens and reported my findings to Maryann when she came to pick them up. She contacted the arborists and it seems that the elms had been sprayed with a pesticide that she described as being harsh on bees. She promised to contact me when this is all sorted out.

As sad as it is to see so many dead bees, I can understand the University's decision to use the pesticides on the elms. The bee and other insect populations will recover, but the elms are among the last of their kind. If Dutch elm disease or Elm yellows disease kill those trees, there are none to replace them. So the next time you enjoy some honey, stop for a second and pour one out for your home-bees. (I apologize for both the pun and the trivialization of gang violence).