Local “grass seed farm” herbicides seem to be my biggest killer of hives. I see a heavy loss of worker bees after each spraying of mostly herbicides and/or pesticides that surround my farm and then watch general decline of the colonies until collapse overtakes them. I am moving most of my hives out of the Valley of Death to the Coast Range foothills and hope to get better survival rates this season. Keep up the good work and thanks for the survey.
Response: Pesticide sprays can be really tough on colony health. Hopefully the foothills site will be more forgiving. Thanks for your comment.