The Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled that landowners who spray pesticides on hybrid poplar groves can be held liable for damaging neighboring beekeeping operations.
The ruling allows a negligence lawsuit filed by three western Minnesota beekeepers to proceed.
The beekeepers argue that the state Department of Natural Resources and International Paper used a toxic pesticide to control cottonwood leaf beetles on poplars, even though they knew the beekeeping operations were nearby.
The beekeepers say they lost 30 to 50 percent of their stock annually, with losses totaling $500,000 a year.