One afternoon last summer, I discovered a utility worker on a tall truck ladder above our backyard, spraying wasp killer from a can. I watched the arc shoot out at least 8 feet and land in our organically maintained backyard. The object of his attack was a paper wasps’ nest formed on the utility pole, and the worker was missing his target.
“The insecticide you’re spraying is not good for you, either,” I called out to him. “It kills the wasps, but it’s a nerve poison, a terrible toxin. You should really try to find another way to deal with this problem.”
He pointed to a red mark near his eyebrow, said that he had been stung there three days earlier.
“You could wear one of those beekeeper’s veils and gloves,” I said. “Maybe you could use a smoker. Do something that doesn’t put poisons into our environment. I’ve had an organic garden here for 10 years.”
He looked at me like I was crazy, shook his head. It was too late for my garden anyway, the damage was done. I left, having no wish to abuse a man who was just trying to do his job with as little injury as possible.
A few weeks later, a friend forwarded an e-mail documenting a homeowner’s experience with honeybees that had colonized a covered barbecue grill. The series of photographs, supplemented with text, bragged about cleverly attaching a cockroach and flea bomb to a rake and shoving it under the grill. “Then I release the weapon of buzz destruction . . . the sound from under the cover was incredible!” he wrote. “You could hear it 3 miles away, easy.”
The death toll was thousands of honeybees who had crafted an impressive home, including beautiful honeycomb full of food to feed the colony and brood (bee larvae).
Sadly, the homeowner could have asked any apiarist to remove that hive without mass extermination.
While I have compassion for those who have serious reactions to bee stings (a beekeeper friend with this condition keeps anaphylactic medicine with her at all times), it is time to recognize that these creatures’ benefits far, far outweigh their risks. Honeybees are responsible for the pollination of 80 percent of our food crops. Eating local honey can provide immunities against pollen allergies. Honey can be used as an antibiotic on wounds.
Honeybees aren’t the only beneficial insect we overreact to. In England, after near-extinction some years ago, paper wasps are now protected. Upon closer inspection, they were found to be gentle, shy creatures who won’t attack unless their hive is in danger. Considered beneficial by gardeners, they feed on nectar and other insects, including caterpillars, flies and beetle larvae.
Honeybees have been in serious decline for some time now and they are crucial to our survival. There is no doubt that the trouble they are facing is mostly due to our own ignorance. It is time to realize that we, as homeowners, are the ones doing the most to hurt our environment, and with a little education, a little patience, we can change.
In occupations that routinely deal with bees and wasps, there should be sensible solutions. One beekeeper advises that, as a last resort, you can get rid of a hive by spraying it with soapy water. It will drown the insects, but at least you won’t be using toxic chemicals.
If there was some way to temporarily incapacitate the wasps or protect himself, the utility employee could have done his work and left the nest alone, which would have been vacated by winter (wasps don’t reuse them). Perhaps communities should have an expert in bees and wasps on call in the event of these kind of emergencies.
The bees have waved the white flag; it’s time to stop our attacks.
Sandra Knauf (sandra@sandraknauf.com) lives in Colorado Springs and publishes the zine “Greenwoman.”
