MIAMI – Beekeeper Juanita Stanley woke up stunned Monday morning when she realized the familiar buzz at her South Carolina apiary had gone silent.
In an effort to control the spread of the mosquito-borne Zika virus, authorities over the weekend doused parts of the southeastern state with the controversial pesticide Naled – a dose that proved fatal to millions of bees.
“Our family business has been destroyed by the aerial spray,” Stanley said on the Facebook page of her Summerville, South Carolina apiary, Flowertown Bee Farm and Supplies. “Help us share the story, don’t let our honey girls die in vain.” (AFP)