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Bee deaths sting beekeeper Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Sams Valley apiarist Gene Pringle, 83, says chemicals in the environment are killing his beehives and the hives of fellow beekeepers in the Rogue Valley. The state Department of Agriculture said an analysis of the hives turned up no presence of pesticides and that further study is needed to determine the cause. He blames pollutants; state isn't sure By PAUL FATTIG SAMS VALLEY - Gene Pringle popped the top off the beehive and pulled out a honeycomb. No swarm buzzed around the white apiary; no bees covered the honeycomb. "You can see there are just a few bees on the bottom and they're all dead," he said. "See the honey here? They sure didn't starve to death. "This was a strong hive of bees last September with probably three pounds of bees in it," he added. "Now they are all dead. I want to know what killed them." After raising bees for all of his adult life, having learned the fundamentals of becoming an apiarist from his beekeeping grandfather, Pringle, 83, knows a lot about bees. What he doesn't know is what is killing his Sams Valley hives as well as the hives of other beekeepers in the Rogue Valley. Several beekeepers from Ashland to Rogue River have reported losing their hives in the past year, he said. Pringle and his son, Larry, have lost about 400 beehives, representing their entire commercial stock. While Gene Pringle doesn't know for certain what is causing it, he has his suspicions. "I believe it is chemical poisoning of some kind," he said, referring to everything from backyard sprays to those used along roads and on forests. "I'm not interested in raising hell with somebody," added Pringle, whose deep voice rumbles like a swarm of angry bees. "I just want to know what is causing it. This is our business. This is our livelihood." A short bee flight from the Pringle's empty hives lie the 300 hives of Morris Saltekoff, a commercial beekeeper for 11 years. All his bees are also dead. A healthy hive is worth about $250, Saltekoff said. "I'm absolutely sure it's chemicals but I can't prove it," Saltekoff said. "They are trying to tell us it may be mites that have become immune (to mite-killing substances). No way. You don't lose 100 percent of your bees to mites like that." Yet a preliminary analysis conducted by the Oregon Department of Agriculture's pesticide division indicates the culprit likely isn't chemicals, said assistant administrator Dale Mitchell. The department analyzed Pringle's bees that died while pollinating cranberry bogs on the Oregon coast. Pringle and other commercial beekeepers rent out hives as pollinators. "The lab didn't confirm the presence of pesticide products in those samples," Mitchell said. An Oregon State University bee expert also concluded the bee deaths weren't related to pesticides, he said. "But for us to evaluate it further, we need to study it more," he said. "We need to get more information on bee diseases and what type of treatment that may have been used on those hives. We'll be looking for any causes that may be related." Lynn Royce, an entomologist with Oregon State University who has received several calls from local beekeepers, agreed. "Right now, we can't say that it's a chemical problem," she said, noting that more analysis is required to solve the problem. "It seems to be a regional problem," she added. "I've had no other beekeepers in Oregon calling about it." But Gene Pringle, who has spent a lifetime studying bees, both in book and in person, is certain that chemicals are the problem. His experience and research indicate that neither mites nor any fungi attacking the bees in the larval stage are the problem, he said. To him, bees are the canaries in the coal mines, alerting people to environmental dangers. "We need to know what is happening to our environment," he said. "We've got to wise up. "We all depend on bees," he added. "They are essential to our whole ecological system. You gotta have some kind of pollinator." The Pringles usually make some $20,000 a year by renting the bees out as almond-tree pollinators in California. They also receive income from other sources, including selling honey and bees. "We're going to have a real problem this year," Pringle said. "Right now, we have no working hives at all." But he does have three hives he recently acquired from a beekeeping friend in California. "We're going to try to raise some queens with these and start over," he said as he gently popped the top from one of those hives. Bees swarmed around. One stung him on the forehead. "It doesn't bother me," he said. What bothers him is the death of his other hives. "To us, beekeeping is a way of life," he said. "We need to find out what is killing them." Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.