(CNN)The
pictures are heartbreaking: Millions of honeybees lie dead after being
sprayed with an insecticide targeting Zika-carrying mosquitoes.
"On
Saturday, it was total energy, millions of bees foraging, pollinating,
making honey for winter," beekeeper Juanita Stanley said. "Today, it
stinks of death. Maggots and other insects are feeding on the honey and
the baby bees who are still in the hives. It's heartbreaking."
Stanley, co-owner of Flowertown Bee Farm and Supply in
Summerville, South Carolina, said she lost 46 beehives -- more than 3
million bees -- in mere minutes after the spraying began Sunday morning.
"Those
that didn't die immediately were poisoned trying to drag out the dead,"
Stanley said. "Now, I'm going to have to destroy my hives, the honey,
all my equipment. It's all contaminated."
The county used a product called
Trumpet, which contains the pesticide naled, recommended by the
Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention for control of adult Aedes aegypti, the mosquito that
transmits Zika.
According to the manufacturer's label
(PDF), Trumpet is "highly toxic to bees exposed to direct treatment on
blooming crops or weeds. To minimize hazard to bees, it is recommended
that the product is not applied more than two hours after sunrise or two
hours before sunset, limiting application to times when bees are least
active."
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