Is herbicide use hurting honey bees?

I was talking with a friend who lives on the river near Morton Slough. They have an apple orchard and a good-sized garden. Three years ago the orchard produced 40 boxes of apples, two years it produced 10 boxes, last year only four boxes. In her garden, she was unable to grow zucchini, beans and other vegetables. I was shocked,

I also planted zucchini and all the plants were male; no bees to propagate the vegetables and how about my friend's apples. We talked about orchards away from the water and realized orchards in Spokane and again, those away from the water, seemed to be doing fine. We concluded the herbicide may be killing the bees. I know there are other things killing them, too — mites, yellow jackets, how about the herbicide? The bees drink from the lake/river. Could there be a correlation between lack of honey bees and the herbicide? Did anyone else along the water experience the same thing? Please comment.

We drink our water from the river (have all the right equipment to purify), we are worried about the long-term effects when using the herbicide. Does anyone know how long the herbicide lasts; does it keep leaching into the water? I researched what testing had been when they applied the herbicide last year. The only testing done was by the company that makes the product; no outside testing has been done to my knowledge; any comments? Who is watching over us, who cares about the wildlife and plants/wetlands? Is there a natural way to get rid of milfoil? My friend mentioned beetles; apparently they gobble up all the milfoil and leave the good plant life; is this true? Who is going to answer these questions?

CAROL ALBANESE

Priest River