If you use pesticides and DE read...Bee news!

[peruvian_princess]

Did I spell it wrong?

 

[chickenannie]

Oh, I thought you were doing that to be funny. I always saw it spelled "coop". But keep doing what you're doing, it's fun.

 

[peruvian_princess]

LOL! I am crazy girl! Must be that hillbilly breeding in me LOL!

 

[chickenannie]

 

[beekybuzzard]

Quote:
I'm not starting a rumor. I've done alot of research on this and any DE will kills bees. DE is an organic pesticide, food grade, or otherwise and will destroy bee hives.

Editing because I just saw Reinbeus post. I wasn't intending to compare sevin to DE in anyway, but, regarding bees, the end result is the same.

I wasn't intending to ruffle any feathers here...I just saw the lastest research results regarding hive health and know that it is discussed alot here. Thought some folks might be interested.

Thanks for posting this. I posted something similar a few months ago with only a plea for care in the use of de because of the honeybees and got much of the same response, I had a great deal of people jumping in and trying to act as if I was trying to start troubles for them when only trying to protect some very needed bees. I am also a bee keeper ( hence the beek spelling of beakybuzzard) as well as raising around a hundred chickens and a bunch of hogs, dogs, and cattle and just think people should not be so quick to jump at someone who is only trying to give a little information.

 

[spatcher]

I dont think anyone is disputing the fact that DE is lethal to bees under the right circumstances! I am certainly not as I stated previously. Miss Prissy all DE has silica in it. It is known as crystalline silica and to be food grade it has to have less than 3% crystalline silica. PermaGuard has less than one half of one percent in theirs and this is the lowest you will find. Now, as far as DE being a pesticide...a fly swatter would also qualify as it kills critters physically too. As far as lung damage goes from the food grade DE, PermaGuard is FDA approved as an additive, and unless you are going to be in a closed area where the dust is heavy, there is very little danger. A dust mask is recommended under those circumstances. If you have a pre-existing pulmony problem, I would advise against using it. Perma Guard states that in an open area it is comparable to "road dust", as irritants go. I venture to say that just about everyone has consumed DE (food Grade) without knowing it. It is used in such products as Bisquick and breakfast cereals to prevent "caking)! Because it is added BEFORE milling, it is not required to be listed in the ingredients. I give it to my 5 dogs, my african gray parrot and take it myself. When I get my chickens on Saturday, rest assured they will be eating it too. The coops bedding has it in it, and the walls white-washed. I bee ready lol If you are afraid of it...dont use it!

 

[MissPrissy]

I was referring to the fact that most people here who have repeatedly questioned food grade DE have come up with DE with 80% silica and thought they could use it on their chickens. That DE is not safe and should not be used by people with lung problems.

At one time there was a representative of Permaguard who was an active member of this forum. I guess after he answered and reanswered and reanswered the Q's he got tired and left. After you have been here a while this subject gets to be like beating a dead horse when the pros and cons are straight forward and have been hashed and rehashed.

 

[spatcher]

Okay thanks! I'll shut up then.

Tim

 

[Reinbeau]

Quote:
I'm not starting a rumor. I've done alot of research on this and any DE will kills bees. DE is an organic pesticide, food grade, or otherwise and will destroy bee hives.

Editing because I just saw Reinbeus post. I wasn't intending to compare sevin to DE in anyway, but, regarding bees, the end result is the same.

I wasn't intending to ruffle any feathers here...I just saw the lastest research results regarding hive health and know that it is discussed alot here. Thought some folks might be interested.

Thanks for posting this. I posted something similar a few months ago with only a plea for care in the use of de because of the honeybees and got much of the same response, I had a great deal of people jumping in and trying to act as if I was trying to start troubles for them when only trying to protect some very needed bees. I am also a bee keeper ( hence the beek spelling of beakybuzzard) as well as raising around a hundred chickens and a bunch of hogs, dogs, and cattle and just think people should not be so quick to jump at someone who is only trying to give a little information.

No one has ruffled feathers at all, it's just that some of us are beekeepers, want to raise chickens, and want to use food grade DE. I'm one of them. As I said in another thread, over on the Beemaster forum there are many who do all three and have seen no problems with their honeybees as a result. I just want to make it clear that they are not mutually exclusive. You can keep thickens, use food grade DE in the process, and you will not harm your honeybees, provided your DE use is confined to the coop and run. Or any other pollinator (they're all in trouble, not just the honeybees, as are bats, amphibians, anything that is affected by our use of agricultural chemicals).

 

[gumpsgirl]

Quote:
Here's one article that I found and if you search on Yahoo! news, you can find others.

Cell Phones To Blame For Deserted Bee Colonies?
A small study from Landau University in Germany suggests that the navigational capabilities of honeybees may be adversely affected by radiation from GSM cell phones. The findings could provide an answer to the mystery of disappearing bee colonies across the Western world.

The cell phone study, conducted by Landau's Jochen Kuhn, was originally presented at a German Informatics and Cybernetics conference back in 2003. It focused on the effects of cell phone radiation on the neurological mechanisms that control learning and memory. Placing handsets near hives, Kuhn observed that GSM cell phone radiation in the frequency range 900 MHz - 1800 MHz caused the bees to avoid the hive. Kuhn speculates that the "waggle" dance that bees perform on the honeycomb to communicate with others could be influenced by the radiation.

Not all scientists agree that the dance is the primary means of communication between bees, but past studies have shown that it can fundamentally affect bee movement patterns. Kuhn suggests that the 200 - 300 cycles/second oscillations that dancing bees produce through honeycomb may be interrupted by a resonance effect caused by the telephone handsets.

First observed in the United States, the phenomenon of disappearing hive populations - known as colony collapse disorder - has now spread to Europe and Britain. The disorder causes bees to desert hives en masse, leaving only immature bees and queens. What happens to the errant bees is a mystery, but scientists speculate that they die while wandering far from their home hive. The disorder, now affecting two-thirds of American hives, is causing increasing alarm because of the critical role bees play in pollination.