Tracy Loew

Statesman Journal

The Oregon Department of Agriculture is investigating at least three Portland-area mass bee die-offs that appear to be linked to pesticides.

Beekeepers in several locations have reported entire colonies dying suddenly.

Estacada beekeeper Jon Beaty checked his hives Wednesday night.

"I noticed that there were hundreds of bees lying on the ground in front of the hives dead, which was shocking to me," Beaty said.

Sandy beekeeper Dena Rash Guzman noticed tens of thousands of dead bees in and around two of her eight hives Wednesday.

"I live in the middle of nowhere on a 60-acre sustainable farm," she said. "We've had beehives here for four years and never have had this happen."

Guzman called expert Matt Reed, owner of Portland's Bee Thinking beekeeper supply store, who came out to take a look.

"When a honeybee colony dies en masse like that, usually it is pesticides," Reed said. "A lot of them were dropping off the combs as I inspected them."

Reed said he's seen a rash of similar reports on Portland-area beekeeping Facebook forums this week.

Beaty and Guzman suspect aerial spraying of nearby nurseries and Christmas tree farms.

An ODA pesticide investigator took samples at the hives Friday morning, ODA spokesman Bruce Pokarney said.

Eugene pesticide operator has license suspended

The state has suspended a Eugene pesticide operator's licensefollowing an incident this week that left about 1,000 bees dead.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture found that an employee of Glass Tree Care and Spray Service sprayed the neonicotinoid pesticide imidacloprid on 17 flowering linden trees at an apartment complex Tuesday.

Neonicotinoids can harm bees if used improperly.

It's the same situation that caused a highly publicized die-off of 50,000 bumblebees at a Wilsonville Target a year ago.

That incident led to the formation of a legislative task force on pollinator health that will begin meeting this month.

It also led Oregon to require that neonicotinoid pesticides imidacloprid and dinotefuran sold in the state be labeled with instructions prohibiting use on linden trees and other tilia species.

Glass Tree Care was using a product with an old label on it, ODA said. But older labels state the pesticides cannot be used when the trees are in bloom.

By law, pesticide applicators must follow label instructions.

Most of the pollinators impacted were bumblebees, ODA spokesman Bruce Pokarney said. Some honeybees also were found dead and dying.

As a condition of license reinstatement, Glass Tree Care and Spray Service must have the applicator retake and pass examinations required for a commercial pesticide applicator; the company must cooperate with ODA, to the department's satisfaction, in preventing or mitigating further harm from incident; and the company must provide to ODA a written plan describing how it will set in place policies or protocols to prevent recurrences of incidents involving pesticide applications to plants in bloom.

ODA is considering additional enforcement action, Pokarney said.

"We've given information to all of our pesticide licensees. We've made a great effort to talk about pollinator protection," Pokarney said. "They should have known better."

tloew@StatesmanJournal.com, (503) 399-6779 or follow at Twitter.com/SJWatchdog