Dead Bees: 25,000 Found In Car Park Amid Probe

Around 25,000 bees have been found dead in a shopping centre car park in the US state of Oregon.

They were discovered clustering under dozens of blooming European linden trees in Wilsonville, south-west of Portland.

Experts believe it could be a poisonous species of the tree that caused them to die, or they may have been poisoned by insecticides.

Most were gold-and-black bumble bees but honey bees and some ladybirds were also found dead.

Early investigations suggest the trees were recently sprayed with an insecticide known to be toxic to bees.

One official said experts will be looking at a pesticide called Safari that apparently was applied in the area last Saturday to control aphids such as greenflies.

Safari is part of a family of pesticides called neonicotinoids that are considered acutely toxic to pollinators.

Workers plan to wrap bee-proof netting around the trees in an attempt to prevent the deaths of more bees.

Dan Hilburn, plant programmes director at the state Agriculture Department, visited the car park and confirmed "thousands of dead bees", adding: "I've never seen anything like that before".

He went on: "Honey bees and bumble bees were arriving as we were there, and bees are still dying."

Mace Vaughan and Rich Hatfield collect samples (Pic: CBS)

Bees play a crucial role in pollinating berries, flowers and other plants.

Conservationists Mace Vaughan and Rich Hatfield have been at the scene, filling test tubes with samples to take back to a laboratory.

There, they will try to confirm either theory for the bees' sudden deaths.

"When I was here on Monday, it was even more dramatic than it is today," Mr Hatfield told KOIN-TV. "There were bees raining out of trees."

Mr Vaughan said European linden trees are often treated with insecticides because of the aphids that "rain down" nectar from the trees.

But there is also a chance that it is not insecticide at all. Mr Vaughan took pollen samples and will test the buds and flowers from the trees.

"We can't say for sure that it is something that they put on the tree," Mr Hatfield said, "because these trees are European Linden trees, which have been known to be toxic to bees."

Officials say tests to confirm the cause of the deaths could take two or three days. 

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