Beekeeper bills county for deaths from pesticides

Master Beekeeper Debra Langley-Boyer, a North Mason resident, has filed a claim with the county for reimbursement for the loss of her bees due to herbicide spraying.

Langley-Boyer is asking for $4,035.48 and provided the county with an itemized list for the deaths of her bees in 2020 and 2023, including $800 for the loss of queens, $483 for honey lost and “unrecoverable” for native bee loss.

“This is the second time (May 2023) Mason County has killed my honeybees and native bees due to spraying herbicides along the Tee Lake county road. The herbicides were used when the roadside vining blackberries were in bloom. Which is one of the only times it will kill bees,” she wrote in her claim.

Langley-Boyer said spraying herbicide on roadside flowering plants in bloom is particularly dangerous for pollinators, including honeybees.

The county told her all chemicals used were safe for bees, but Langley-Boyer disagrees.

“Roundup is well-documented to kill bees since 2015. But the company and government agencies still have it listed as OK for bees,” she said.

The county sprayed Roundup Custom in the wet areas and used Roundup Pro, Milestone and Element 3a on the edge of the road, according to a letter the county sent Langley-Boyer.

While the direct spray doesn’t kill them, the bees will collect tainted nectar and pollen, bring it back to the hive and will die slowly from ingesting the herbicide, she said.

Langley-Boyer was in Slovenia studying beekeeping when the spraying occurred in May, and received an email from her husband telling her about the bee deaths.

Mason County Risk Manager Nichole Wilson told the Herald the county had received the claim.

“We will look into and investigate it,” and the county will take appropriate action if needed, she said.

Langley-Boyer told the Herald the county has “been nice and generally surprised about the death of my bees.”

She said there is a “serious lack of education” in the county about how spraying hurts pollinators.

“My hope is that policy can be changed to prevent this in the future. If I get paid and nothing else happens then it will just be repeated in the future.”