Naughty doings in North Dakota?

A stray barrel of sodium cyanide fell off the back of a lorry (I kid you not) and has been found, after an intensive search, in a ditch in North Dakota. Sodium cyanide, which turns into a lethal gas when it gets wet, is not registered for use as a pesticide, yet it seems that it may have been used by North Dakotan beekeepers to fumigate hives at the end of the season.

Bonnie Woodworth, president of the North Dakota Beekeepers Association, said cyanide was used illegally many years ago in the state, but it was an uncommon practice.

“It's kind of unusual because these days people don't usually kill their bees because they're very valuable with pollination prices the way they are,” said Woodworth, a Halliday, N.D., beekeeper. ... “We used to have to kill off about one-third of our colonies when we brought out bees to Texas, but things have changed. Now, we spend more time trying to keep our bees alive.”