Heads'up...Major mosquito spraying in Dallas, TX

[Intheswamp]

In response to a breakout of West Nile Virus, Dallas, TX has started aerial spraying for mosquitoes...    Ed

"The chemical released from the planes, synthetic pyrethroid, mimics a naturally occurring substance found in chrysanthemums. The Environmental Protection Agency has said that pyrethroids do not pose a significant risk to wildlife or the environment, though no pesticide is 100 percent safe.

About eight-tenths of an ounce of chemical is applied per acre, said Laura McGowan, a Clarke spokeswoman.

The insecticide's common name is Duet Dual-Action Adulticide. The label says it's toxic to fish and other types of aquatic life, and it contains distilled petroleum."

Quoted from: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/08/17/dallas-launches-aerial-defense-to-fight-west-nile-virus/?test=latestnews#ixzz23rPX2nNX

[BlueBee]

So is it toxic to bees? 

I can vaguely remember when West Nile first made an appearance in the USA.  Wasn't it in NYC, or New Jersey?  I can recall the local communities deciding they were not going to allow spraying.  I wonder how things might have turned out if the feds stepped in a forced the spaying back then?  Would it have kept West Nile from spreading across the country?   

[splitrock]

 Would it have kept West Nile from spreading across the country?   

Nope! Government programs, historically costs fortunes, grow very large, and perform poorly.  We will just make the future bugs stronger as they develop resistance by the poisonings.

Check into the health issues that ensued after the spraying for a moth in California. I'd get everyone out of town if they were spraying mine!!!

[Intheswamp]

Copy and paste from label @ www.plymouthmosquito.com/Duet%20Label.pdf



ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS
This product is toxic to aquatic organisms, including fish and aquatic invertebrates.
Runoff from treated areas or deposition of spray droplets into a body of water may be
hazardous to fish and aquatic invertebrates. Do not apply over bodies of water (lakes,
rivers, permanent streams, natural ponds, commercial fish ponds, swamps, marshes
or estuaries), except when necessary to target areas where adult mosquitoes are pres-
ent, and weather conditions will facilitate movement of applied material beyond the
body of water in order to minimize incidental deposition into the water body. Do not
contaminate bodies of water when disposing of equipment rinsate or wash waters.

BEE WARNING: This product is toxic to bees exposed to direct treatment on blooming
crops or weeds. Do not apply to or allow drift onto blooming crops or weeds when bees
are visiting the treatment area, except when applications are made to prevent or con-
trol a threat to public and/or animal health determined by a state, tribal or local health
or vector control agency on the basis of documented evidence of disease causing
agents in vector mosquitoes or the occurrence of mosquito-borne disease in animal or
human populations, or if specifically approved by the state or tribe during a natural dis-
aster recovery effort.


Copy and paste of a section of an "info" article @ http://co.middlesex.nj.us/mosquito/DUETR-NJDEP%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf

What is Duet Dual-Action® adulticide and how is it used?

Duet Dual-Action® contains two pesticides called Prallethrin and
Sumithrin, and a synergistic compound called piperonyl butoxide which
increases the effectiveness of the pesticides. Prallethrin and Sumithrin are
members of a category of pesticides called pyrethroids, which in turn are
synthetic versions of pesticides produced by plants called pyrethrins.
Pyrethroid/piperonyl butoxide mixtures have been recommended for Ultra-
Low-Volume (ULV) mosquito control in New Jersey by Rutgers, The State
University of New Jersey. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA)
current evaluation considers pyrethroid-containing products to be slightly
toxic with minimal potential risk to people when used properly as part of an
integrated mosquito control program.

This pyrethroid-containing product is used for the control of adult
mosquitoes. While habitat management and measures to control immature
mosquitoes in water are preferred and most used, the spraying of adult
mosquitoes is called for when biting populations reach critical levels or when
a disease organism is present in adult mosquitoes. A very fine mist is
sprayed into the air since flying mosquitoes must directly contact the
pesticide in order for it to be effective. The combination of the two pesticides
has been shown to produce what the manufacturer calls ‘benign agitation’.
In other words mosquitoes are agitated from a resting state to a non-biting
flying state where they are more vulnerable to pesticide exposure. This
makes Duet Dual-Action® adulticide more effective against hard-to-control
species like Aedes albopictus which typically rest during the evening hours
when adulticiding usually takes place.

[bayouboy]

Where I live in Barataria ,La a small town 30 miles south of New Orleans,we are sprayed daily, by trucks that go up and down every street in town.We also get sprayed from the air about 3 times a week.

I have one hive in my yard about 70 feet from the road that is sprayed daily,I don't know if it is hurting them,they seem allright,but I suspect it has got to be doing them harm in some way.I have the rest of my hives south of town at a hunting camp that is accessible only by boat,they are affected by the areal spraying only.I see no harm in them, they are good honey producers.

We have been sprayed for mosquito's around here for as long as I can remember,when we were kids in the late 60's early 70's we used to ride our bikes behind the spraying trucks up and down the streets,we called it "chasing the fog machine",(no wonder we're all brain dead).

Maybe from being sprayed so long the bee's have some kind of immunity, they seem outwardly to be allright,and we have plenty of feral hives around.This whole area including the New Orleans area and it's suburbs have had intensive mosquito spraying every year sense the early60's ,I'm not a scientist, but the bees seem to be OK.(Look at the bee's JP deals with from the same area).
Mike

[kathyp]

the spraying thing is kind of a darned if you do and darned if you don't.  if  they are spraying at night as the pictures i saw indicated, and they are not directly spraying your hives, you are probably ok...as long as they are not foraging on sprayed stuff.

good thing is that the stuff breaks down pretty quickly.

this is the same stuff we use in flea and tick treatments, horse fly spray, etc.  some people do have a reaction to it, but they must be few as the stuff is still widely used by most of us with animals.

the trade off with insecticides is that we have very few problems with insect spread diseases and we have abundant crops...when it rains.  west nile is nasty for people and horses.  it can cause death and permanent disability in people, and causes about 50% death in horses and that again in loss of use for those horses that survive.

[bayouboy]

Kathy, all of our spraying is done, after dark.
Mike

[Intheswamp]

On my way home from work yesterday I got behind the "spray truck" in town.  This was easily two hours before dark.   I've seen this done for years.   I think I'll check with the city and see what chemical they use.  Might even get on the agenda for a city council meeting.  This doesn't affect my hives as I'm well out of the city limits, but it still affects honey bees and other pollinators.  If they're going to spray...they need to do it right.  Seems they would get better kills if they waited until after dark when the mosquitoes are more active anyhow...  

Ed

[duck]

mostly malathion is what they spray, you can request that the parish or county designate your bee yard as a no spray.