SAN DIEGO — Experts are encouraging people to find different methods to combat pest in the garden besides chemicals that are linked to the death of bees and other pollinators.
Every plant in Hilary Kearney’s backyard garden is designed to welcome bees. She is the owner of Girl Next Door Honey, a beekeeper focused on education, rescue and taking care of hives around San Diego County.
“I’m like a pool man but like a bee lady,” Kearney said with a laugh.
Kearney now hopes more people will help her take care of all bees. Gov. Gavin Newsom recently vetoed a bill that would have banned most non-agricultural uses of the neonicotinoid class of pesticides. Many experts agree that the highly potent pesticides are devastating to bees and also kill other pollinators that are critical to many of California's leading crops.
Kearney has seen firsthand the horrible effects.
“One second, you have this thriving, beautiful hive making honey, flying in and out. It’s magical,” she said. “And then the next second, all of a sudden, bees are just writhing all over the ground in front of your hive, like a carpet of dead bees just writhing in pain.”
Newsom said that the California Department of Pesticide Regulation is already taking “significant” steps to restrict neonicotinoid uses in the state. Kearney hopes everyone will speed up safety measures by choosing less lethal ways to combat bugs.
“There’s just no reason why an everyday homeowner would need to use a pesticide of this caliber,” she said. “There’s lots of other things that can be used, lots of other options.”
Sam Tall is the owner of City Farmers, a garden center and nursery located in the heart of San Diego. A huge part of its mission is to teach people to pick better alternatives when it comes to pest control.
“Without bad bugs, you don’t have good bugs,” Tall said, adding that a problem with neonicotinoid pesticides is how long they last and how far they can spread.
Some of Tall’s favorite organic and more natural solutions to pest control are things like organic bacterial sprays that control harmful worms and caterpillars.
“Pretty much all your sprays organically, once every seven days,” Tall said. “What’s great about that, there’s not a lot of residual, so it’s not that really long-lasting effect.”
Tall also recommends sulfur dust for combating spider mites and powdery mildew. He said he hopes everyone makes better choices for nature’s sake despite whether California ever outright bans the harshest chemicals.
“For everything you do, there is an action,” he said. “Whether it be spraying or fertilizing, everything is connected.”
For Kearney, the battle to protect bees is never ending, and she hopes people realize how important these pollinators are to the world.
“Eighty percent of the plants on earth need pollination, and bees are doing a tremendous amount of that pollination,” Kearney said. “We have 20,000 species of bees. They’re all contributing to this really important work. They’re all being harmed by pesticides.”
Newsom said the Department of Pesticide Regulation is finalizing new regulations for the agricultural use of these pesticides and will begin evaluating non-agricultural uses next year.