Beekeepers swarm against bill to deploy drones to spray pesticide
Apr. 22—Beekeepers swarmed in opposition last week to a proposal to let farmers use drones to spray pesticide that they say could decimate their hives and colonies.
A House-passed bill (HB 1698) that would allow drones to spray from a maximum height of 20 feet had its last public hearing on Thursday.
Beekeepers are lobbying the Senate to amend the bill to require farmers to give them notice and time to close up hives and protect their investments.
"This eliminates a beekeeper's right to know," said Joe Mercieri, who runs the 150-hive White Mountain Apiary and Bee Farm in Whitefield with his wife.
"We suggest you throttle back on this proposal and take another approach."
Bill opponents point to a 1995 state law on aerial spraying of pesticides that requires written notice of 14 to 60 days to any owner of property within 200 feet of the spray site.
Agriculture Commissioner Shawn Jasper said that law harks back to when planes or helicopters were used to spray pesticide on large farms in the North Country.
Several farmers said that practice rarely occurs today.
Jasper said a notification provision would be unenforceable because not all beekeepers are registered, and they move around. Farmers will make every attempt to protect local hives, he said.
"How about a little cooperation?' " Jasper said. "You have a hive near a field, talk to the farmer. Let them know your hive is there. Ask them if they'll notify you if they are going to be spraying. I can't imagine that there would be a farmer who would say, 'No, I'm not going to let you know.'"
A short time later Jasper said, "I think this is more the case of people being afraid of what they don't know."
Last month, the House passed the bill on a voice vote without debate after its Environment and Agriculture Committee endorsed it 20-0.
Then the beekeeper lobby put the word out to mobilize and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing room was filled with supporters and opponents.
Sen. Debra Altschiller, D-Stratham, said she thought the beekeepers have a point.
"Why would we take away the compulsion of notifying our neighbors if it is going to kill things on their land?" Altschiller said.
An unpermitted use
Sheldon Sawyer, who owns the 200-acre Sunset Farm in Walpole, last year arranged for a New York firm to spray pesticide on his crops from a drone before he learned it wasn't allowed under state law.
Farmers currently spray pesticide by hand in small areas or deploy large boom sprayers for large fields.
Sawyer said because boom sprayers push the pesticide up into the air, the spray can drift and the weed poison may be inefficiently applied.
Drones could more precisely target areas from the air and use less pesticide to greater effect, he said.
The precise timing of drone use is difficult, Sawyer said, because they won't go up if it's too windy or stormy.
"We could get a window like, 'We're coming Tuesday through Thursday, whichever day and time is optimal,'" Sawyer said.
Si Robertson, whose family owns the Bohanan Farm in Contoocook, said the burcucumber weed grows so high that it can completely cover a full-grown corn crop.
"Sometimes, you literally need to run over the corn to get rid of the burcucumber. Drones could make this job a lot less destructive," Robertson said.
Chuck Souther, a licensed pesticide applicator for 50 years, said it already is against the law to spray pesticide when any movement of bees is detected, he said.
"I view drones as the next step, a better way to get more efficient," said Souther, who co-owns Apple Hill Farm in Concord with his wife.
At the Senate hearing, New Hampshire Beekeepers Association President Mary Ellen McKeen took off a hat in the shape of a white flower with a honeybee perched on top.
"The consequences of pesticide exposure to our bees is too dire for us to stand back and allow you to take our right of notification away," McKeen said.
"The only way we can protect our bees is to sequester them ... or to move the colonies from the entire area."
Gerard Godville, a beekeeper from Bridgewater, said a computer program could map all the state's apiaries and alert them when spraying is planned.
"We have apps for everything," Godville said.
Mercieri said honeybees can travel three to five miles from the hive.
"I can't put a leash on all of my honeybees to keep them in the apiary. That just doesn't work," Mercieri said.
Several beekeepers said they didn't have an issue with farmers considering drone use.
"All we want is to be informed. We want a phone call, a notification of intent to spray. Is that too much to ask?" Mercieri said.
