Are lawn products killing the honey bees?
Published 1:28 pm Monday, September 24, 2007
In the fall companies hit consumers with more ads for lawn products that control grub infestations. Save your money and what’s left of the honey bee population and bypass the stuff, says a national nonprofit group, SafeLawns.
The group sent me a passionate press release on how a chemical in grub control products might be contributing to colony collapse disorder. Scientists believe a virus may be responsible, but SafeLawns has experts who say the chemical, which is toxic to bees, likely plays some part.
Don’t know if that’s true (and neither do they) but I do know this: The honey bee population was decimated and many insecticides are toxic to bees. Isn’t that reason enough to be careful with the stuff?
The average homeowner doesn’t need to apply a grub control product. Brown dead patches in lawns don’t always mean grubs. Most people seem to be on auto pilot with the lawn products, spreading them willy-nilly because they think that’s what they’re supposed to do or their neighbor said to or they’ve always done it that way.
You can download a free lawn care manual that outlines common lawn problems including damage from munching grubs and what to do about them. King County maintains a good site with information about less toxic solutions and more information.
