Thursday, August 16, 6:23 pm
Here is some advice from two very experienced beekeepers in the Trinity Valley Beekeepers Association (Dallas).
From Christi Baughman:
Protect your hives by keeping the bees from flying out; this means blocking the entrance with something that allows ventilation, i.e. burlap, hardware cloth, even a handful of grass will keep them inside. Don't heavily cover them with anything that does not allow air circulation (like plastic or a tarp) or you will have dead bees from the heat. The entrance blockage should be very short-lived only for the period of time when they are spraying to avoid direct contact with bees and spray, evenings and mornings - not necessary at night.
From Alan Eynon:
It's my understanding that the city of Dallas will be spraying for mosquitoes
Thursday and Friday nights. This is aerial spraying, and probably fairly comprehensive.
I believe that the pesticide breaks down in sunlight, so it shouldn't be a problem
once the sun's up and giving us a good baking. My plan is to cover my bees the evening before - just drape an old sheet over the hives. This is mostly a better-safe-than-sorry measure. I'm not sure if I'll uncover
them Friday or just leave the sheet in place until Saturday morning.
