Orioles/Camden Yards and Bees

[justD]

Some of you may have seen the bee invasion at the Tempe Diablo Stadium (Angels Spring Training) yesterday.

Being one who works with plants, I've become pretty familiar with honey bee issues (i.e. Colony Collapse Disorder) and was just devastated to see them bring in a pest control worker who promptly killed off the thousands in that swarm.

I know there may have been concern about someone having an allergic reaction to stings and they probably just wanted to get rid of them as soon as possible, but as Ned Yost pointed out, couldn't they have relocated them using smoke and capture?

I asked Nicole McFadyen, our groundskeeper, what they would've done at OPACY.

Well I can't say they were honey bees right, because it hasn't been confirmed. If they were wasps then that's a different story probably. However I personally would never eradicate bees with pesticides. I'd call in a beekeeper. There is a bee keeper who works for the stadium authority. He has his certification.

Awesome.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/angels/la-sp-0309-angels-20150309-story.html

[rudyrooster]

I agree. I couldn't believe they were killing the "colony". Honeybees have had "hard times" in recent years. They are maybe the most essential insect on the planet due to pollination of crops and production of honey. It was kinda sad to see.

[Barnaby Graves]

Royals Manager Ned Yost, who lives in Georgia, was not happy to see the bees sprayed with pesticides.

"I've never seen mass bee genocide like that," Yost told the Kansas City Star. "All you have to do is get some smoke. ... Trust me, I live in the country. You take some smoke out there because the queen is in there somewhere, you get a Shop-Vac and suck them all in and take them out to the parking lot and let them go.

"They're just honey bees, man. There's a decline in honey bees. We need them. It was sad to see, but they had to do what they had to do."

Ned Yost is right. This is kind of a minor tragedy.

Poor bees My favorite insect.

[ArtVanDelay]

Ned Yost is right. This is kind of a minor tragedy.

Poor bees My favorite insect.

Yeah, he really is. I've gained respect for Ned Yost.

Cancel the game to be able to safely remove the bees if you have to. It's just Spring Training, it's not like it means anything. Refund ticket holders money. The way it was handled was sickening and embarrassing.

[SteveA]

Anyone remember how the left field bleachers in Memorial Stadium used to have a lot of bees flying around in the hot summer months?

[Chavez Ravine]

Anyone remember how the left field bleachers in Memorial Stadium used to have a lot of bees flying around in the hot summer months?

Perhaps attracted to Pat Santarone's tomato patch?

Yep, Yost is on the ball; bees are our friends people!

[sportsfan8703]

Ned Yost is right. This is kind of a minor tragedy.

Poor bees My favorite insect.

We need those Bees.

[Snowmeo]

I agree that if it was honeybees, that was the wrong way to go about solving the problem. I am surprised they are not a protected species in Florida considering their economy depends so much on fruit. Now if it was yellowjackets.. that's a different story.

[MurphDogg]

I agree that if it was honeybees, that was the wrong way to go about solving the problem. I am surprised they are not a protected species in Florida considering their economy depends so much on fruit. Now if it was yellowjackets.. that's a different story.

The incident discussed took place in Arizona.

[Snowmeo]

The incident discussed took place in Arizona.

Ha! That's what I get for reading at 1am! Thanks for the heads up. Still, most states should be trying to protect honeybees these days.

[O-The-Memories]

Perhaps attracted to Pat Santarone's tomato patch?

Yep, Yost is on the ball; bees are our friends people!

Alice Sweet from Norfolk was the one that had the tomato plant, and boy, did Earl Weaver give her a piece of his mind.

Calling in help to get rid of a colony safely is the bee's knees, 23 skidoo daddy-o.

[weams]

Alice Sweet from Norfolk was the one that had the tomato plant, and boy, did Earl Weaver give her a piece of his mind.

Calling in help to get rid of a colony safely is the bee's knees, 23 skidoo daddy-o.

Bees pollinated these award winning tomatoes.

[weams]

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/04/living/iyw-5-ways-to-help-bees/index.html

[Satyr3206]

I've had honeybees off and on since I was a kid. It used to be mites that were their biggest problem but Colony Collapse is much worse. I read a study a few years ago that said it might be linked to pesticides that somehow alter the bees DNA and that somehow causes the hive to collapse. I'll see if I can find a link to it.

[Satyr3206]

This is a pretty good explanation:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmack/2014/05/12/the-cause-of-colony-collapse-disorder-disappearing-bees-becoming-more-clear/