Complaints and reprimands- FDACS | Freeapiariesfromover

Complaint for Wilton Simpson, FDACS' Commissioner 5-2-25

Complaint for Wilton Simpson, FDACS' Commissioner 5-19-25

Wilton Simpson, Commissioner of FDACS, ethics complaint

Never did I Claim that FDACS sprayed my hives.

This is extremely inaccurate.

Shouldn't the Commission on Ethics strive for accuracy?

Complaint for Kathy Mears, FDACS' Assistant Commissioner

Kathy Mears, FDACS' assistant commissioner, ethics complaint

Complaint for Kelly Friend, FDACS' AES (pesticide department) Director

Complaint for Courney Frazier, FDACS AES (Pesticide department) Assistant Director

Complaint for Sean Garner, FDACS' general council

Complaint for Jerry Everton, FDACS' Pest Control Enforcement

Complaint for Patricia Lucas, FDACS' Lab Chief

From: Wesley, James
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2025 11:40 AM
To: Poirier, Michelle
Subject: FW: Compliant form

Fyi

From: Dave Costa <dave@wesealgrout.com>
Sent: Saturday, April 12, 2025 12:18 PM
To: Wesley, James <James.Wesley@fdacs.gov>
Subject: Compliant form

Hi Mr. Wesley,

We have not received the form to file a complaint against Dan. I hope it has a lot of space.

We also have not heard from anyone after confirming what Fl Pest Control used and when
they used it for the last month. I'm trying to figure out how to destroy these infected hives
and I don't want to release toxic fumes into my neighborhood. I wish I had a freezer big
enough to put them in. I've been worried that hive beetles, wax moths, ants, and more
would take over in my dead hives that are full of honey, but there is no evidence of insects
besides the few hive beetles I see regularly on the inside of the lid. I don't see any other
honeybees robbing of the 100's of pounds of unprotected honey. It's very odd.

If fibronil is a slow kill, how did it kill the pile of dead bees I saw just hours after it was
sprayed? Would that not defeat the purpose? Dead bees cannot be social and infect the
hive and flowers. Same with Injured bees that cannot return to their hives and forage. Did
the tech not take the bees, because they weren't supposed to die there?

The 2 inspectors that came out Thursday were polar opposites of Dan. They had bee suits,
were very informative, and reflected what your mission statement on the website. There
was no stress and I never even thought about calling the sheriff. They spent time informing
my neighbor about honeybees and how important they are instead of telling her to
use the word Anaphylaxis to make me have to move my hives. They were great. If you need
to pick someone for The Department Of Government Efficiency to investigate, Dan is your
man. He is the poster child of inefficiency and his report compared to the 2nd (more
thorough) inspection will prove it.

I overnighted my Application for Pesticide Notification, but it appears as if nobody has
picked up the mail.

Thank you,
Dave Costa

From: Dave Costa <dave@wesealgrout.com>
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2025 4:20 PM
To: Wesley, James
Subject: Daniel Sumner Complaint- Costa Honey Farm/ Dave Costa

He was late and strolled up slowly with no introduction until I approached the stranger in
my back yard.
He acted like he didn’t want to be there.
He was extremely dismissive to my requests and fought me and my fiancé every step of the
way.
He didn’t know how to spell Fipronil or Neonicotinoid.
Before starting the inspections, I asked the inspectors if any of them had authority to enter
her property to collect the bees, because I thought my neighbor would not cooperate. This
is because when my fiancé (Bridget Saunders) told my neighbor that we have piles of dead
bees and we needed to know who sprayed the swarm with no comb, she caught a nasty
attitude and said she would call to have bees sprayed every time they are in her yard. My
apiary is 5yrs old and the house she’s renting is less than 1yr old. Instead of Dan telling my
neighbor that if she were afraid of and allergic to honeybees, it was not a good idea to rent
a home directly next to a commercial apiary, where the builder put the driveway and garage
5’ away from 12’ tall bottlebrush bushes lining the front yard, an electric smart meter as
close to the hives as possible (10-12’), and screen room door opening on the apiary
side. Instead, he told her about using the specific word “Anaphylaxis” so we would have
to move the established apiary. This infuriated Erin, my fiancé, and myself. It’s on Sgt.
Warren’s bodycam. Is he allowed to do this? Why was he nice and cooperative with the
neighbor and the opposite towards me?
He refused to inspect the pile of dead bees because the tech said he used Fipronil and by
law the bees must be removed, so there are no dead bees to inspect. I told him I saw the
pile the day it was sprayed and earlier the day of inspection. He argued that there are no
bees and that’s when I told him Brandon (apiary inspector) climbed a step or 2 on the 8’
ladder I had securely placed next to the fence for easy viewing. He refused to climb a step
or 2 to see over the fence. He refused to ask my neighbor to inspect the bee kill site. This is
when I called the Sheriff, so the Sherif could escort the inspectors to the kill site in my
neighbor’s yard. If he knew the law, why did he ignore it?
He did not collect any bees from the kill site, but Erin did. Erin said she gave the bees to
Michelle (pesticide inspector) to give to James Wesley. I don’t know what Dan did when he
gained access, besides telling my neighbor to say Anaphylaxis.
He ignored the smoking gun, which is the pile of dead bees, because the label is the law
and the label for Fipronil states that the kill must be removed.
He ignored the fact that Fipronil is a slow kill, yet there was a large pile of bees (Erin
Supervisor for Apiary inspectors estimated 2000 dead bees in the pile) still on the ground
after almost 2 weeks. Why did he not question why a slow kill poison acted as a
knockdown?
He ignored previous treatments, such as lawn spray, which I believe either drifted or was
lazily sprayed over my fence and directly hit 2-3 hives. I’m thinking this direct hit with lawn
spray caused a swarm, then the swarm with no comb was sprayed on the hammock with
Fipronil, which is now slowly killing the rest of my livestock and murdering my
neighborhood’s ecosystem.
He ignored that there were no hive beetles or wax moths overtaking the dead hives, when
those are issues destroying average and apparently healthy hives.
He was on the phone with someone who was directing him to ask what I’ve used in the
hives. He even said that he needed to be sure I did not spray my hives…. While forcefully
ignoring the smoking gun. I want to know who he was on the phone with.
When filling out the report, Dan showed us a printed out copy of Taurus SC and said that’s
what the tech said he used. My fiancé was reading it over as I was giving my
statement. She read aloud the part about removal. This is when it clicked in my head that
Dan told us that there would be no bees, because it’s the law to remove them. Dan then
lied and said he never said that. He argued with my fiancé and me that he never said
it. How would I know it if he didn’t say it and use it as the reason to not inspect the kill
site? I already signed his report, so I had to argue with him to add to the report that there
was a pile of dead bees. Why did I have to argue to have the report include the smoking
gun? He made an addendum just for the pile of bees at the kill site.
After he argued with us about the information in the Taurus SC for a long while, the told us
that it may not have been Taurus SC, it may be a different brand with fipronil. I then argued
that it doesn’t matter which brand, because the active ingredient is Fipronil. He argued it
wasn’t. Sgt. Warren’s bodycam footage shows this clearly. The bodycam footage alone
shows him acting like he works for Rentokil.
Sgt Warren asked Dan to just take the samples besides just dead bees. He refused her
request, on bodycam. He wasted 2.5 hours of everyone’s time.
He had no sense of urgency to remove the infected bees acting like a bowl of antifreeze for
stray animals. He said he would tell Fl Pest control that it would be a good idea to move
them. Not tell them that the Fipronil is attracting bees and possibly killing my livestock and
we need them removed now, since it’s an admitted illegal application.
He acted like misuse of Fipronil is not a big deal.
I requested that James Wesley run Dan’s investigation and compare it to Michelle’s to
prove that he is either an extremely lazy and unknowledgeable 46yr employee or corrupt. I
would like to request that the Department Of Government Efficiency look into Dan. I asked
him if he worked for or was paid by FL Pest and Rentokil, plus my fiancé wondered if he
worked for Monsanto, because he acted so corrupt and blatantly ignored the smoking gun
while hindering 3 official investigations. He was not a reflection of FDAC’s mission
statement and did not follow SOP. Maybe it’s not him directly being paid off, it might be a
family member like we are seeing in many political corruption cases today.
He refused to test the bottlebrush, fence line vegetation/soil between the kill site and my
hives, fence line vegetation/soil between the kill site and my Koi pond (bees’ water source
that I’m obligated to have per the Apiary agreement), and algae/water sample from the
same pond. The algae test was requested initially, because the bees walk along the algae
to drink the water and Fipronil has great transferability properties. But, the more I think
about it, it may have lawn spray or lawn spray drift too.
I’ve told everyone involved that if a test is not covered by the state that I would pay for them
myself, because I wanted a very thorough investigation as to what poisoned my food
source and is killing all of my livestock. I told them I did not want money to be an issue.

2 days after Dan was at my apiary, Michelle and her partner did an inspection. No Sheriff
needed, because they asked my neighbor if they could do another inspection and she
agreed. They did not waste anyone’s time. No stress at all. My testing requests and
concerns were the same for both inspections. Michelle and her partner were polar
opposites of Dan. They fully reflected FDAC’s mission statement and then some.

This is my recollection for a summary of events and my view/opinion/hypothesis of the
unknown.

Sincerely,
David Costa
Costa Honey Farm

From: Dave Costa <dave@wesealgrout.com>
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2025 7:24 PM
To: Wesley, James
Subject: Daniel Sumner complaint additional info

Hi James,

I forgot to add a few things, because it was a nightmare and there is so much. Please add
this to my original complaint.

He showed up to a bee inspection with no bee suit.

He kept making excuses for not having supplies because of the hurricane. When was the
last hurricane and why did Michelle not have that problem?

I refused to sign his notice of inspection because he refused to write that he was collecting
samples.

Shortly after he arrived, he disappeared for a while without saying anything. We thought he
left. This is when I called Michelle in dispatch to request a different pesticide inspector.

I'm not sure what he said to the Sheriff deputies, but they seemed to side with him instead
of me and my fiance, until I kept proving he was the one hindering the investigation and he
refused to collect the samples the Sgt requested.

He didn't know my apiary was a commercial apiary named Costa Honey Farm

He thought we were in October

After he walked back from the neighbor's house and we confronted him about him telling
her to say anaphylaxis, he mentioned that we had bees in a residential neighborhood. He
also asked if we had an HOA. This is all in front of the Supervisor of Apiary inspectors. I
can actually have another 4 splits and my Apiary inspection was great before it was
poisoned. Again, treating me like I did something wrong while ignoring the smoking gun.

Thank you,
Dave Costa

Dan Sumner ethics complaint

From: Bridget Saunders <villagego2girl@yahoo.com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2025 7:35 AM
To: Wesley, James
Subject: Daniel Sumner Complaint Re: Honey Bee kill investigation- Dave Costa/Costa Honey
Farm

Inspector Daniel Sumner came to my fiancé (Dave Costa) home at 9695 SE 157th ln Summerfield on
4/8/25 to do an investigation about a pesticide sprayed to kill honey bees at our neighbors (Cyn) house
at 9679 SE 157th Ln that was done by Florida Pest Control on 3/27/25

Daniel arrived late to the 1pm appointment, was totally unprepared to collect samples, and walked up
looking like he did not want to be here. He looked and acted very unprofessional from the start.
My fiancé immediately asked him about collecting the dead bees from the neighbors yard. He said there
were no bees in her yard because according to the law the pest control company had to remove them,
but even if there were bees, legally he couldn’t go into her yard to get the bees. We asked if he could at
least introduce himself and ASK the neighbor if he could get the bees and he refused. My fiancé called
the Sheriff Sgt Warren and LT Larson came from Marion Co Sheriff. I was with the apiary inspectors
watching as they inspected the hives and couldn’t believe the person who came to investigate pesticides
sprayed didn’t have a bee suit and the massive amount of dead bees didn’t bother him. He walked away
talking on the phone at one point without saying a word and even the inspectors were unsure if he was
still here. When he came back he questioned my fiancé’s use of Apivar (mite treatments) and asked Erin
the difference between Apistan (something we have never heard of) and Apivar and the correct dosage
and use of Apivar insinuating that this was somehow my fiancé’s fault. The bee inspector Erin apologized
for his behavior very early on and said this is not how someone from the state should behave.
I’d like to know who he spoke to on his aprox 10 min phone call and wonder if they were telling him what
to say/ask. I honestly question if he has ties to Fl Pest control or Rentokil (my company that owns Fl
Pest). He seemed like he was here on their behalf and NOT to do an investigation on why we have a
massive bee kill in our yard.

Eventually Mr Sumner, Erin, and the 2 officers went next door to speak to Cyn and look at the pile of
dead bees. We thought he was going to collect a dead bee sample but that didn’t occur. I stood on a
ladder in my yard to watch what was going on and listen. I couldn’t hear everything but I did hear Mr
Sumner’s tone was much different talking to our neighbor that caused the problem then with my Fiance
and I who are the victims of this tragic event. I heard Mr Sumner coach Cyn (our neighbor who is renting
the home at 9679 SE 157th Ln) on what to say and write and make sure you use the word "anaphylaxis”
and I almost fell off the ladder. PLEASE LOOK AT POLICE BODY CAM! I couldn’t wait to ask him why he
would tell her the word “anaphylaxis” and advise her to write a letter and use that word. When he came
back into our yard I asked him that and he said “she's allergic to bees and y’all have a bunch of bees in a
residential neighborhood” as if this is our fault again. He also asked if we have a HOA. I told him we are a
legal registered apiary in the state of Florida for the past 5 yrs with the correct number of hives. The
owner of the land her house was built on, the builder, her realtor, and Cyn herself were all aware we had
bees. I really pushed him on why he would coach her to use the word anaphylaxis. I asked if she carried
an epi-pen? Does he have proof she has anaphylaxis to honey bees? AGAIN does he have ties to Fl Pest
Control? He was not here at all to find out why we had thousands of dead bees!! The officers diffused
the situation as my fiancé and I could not believe this man is coaching our neighbor on what to say/
write to make us possibly move/get rid of our bees. Mr Sumner, my fiancé, the beekeepers, and Officer
Lawson all went on the back patio so Mr Sumner could take a statement from my fiancé. Office Warren
and I talked on the side of the patio. After what seemed about 30 min, we walked to the back patio and
he was still writing the statement. When I walked up I heard him say on “October 27th”….my fiancé
quickly stopped him and it caught my attention that he was using the wrong month. Was he trying to
make the investigation invalid with bad information?
My fiancé handed me some papers about Taurus SC (the product Mr Sumner said was used b/c he spoke
to FL Pest control and that’s what they told him). It was about 10 pages or so and I asked if I could make
copies. I took it inside and made copies and came out with a highlighter and read outloud all of my
concerns with Fl Pest using this product less than 25’ from our hives. I directed all of my statements and
questions to Mr Sumner.

Such as:
*In a highlighted square in bold font under the name Taurus SC it says "don’t use on/in commercial bee
hives"………why would someone think it ok to spray 10’-20’ away from hives??
*"This product is toxic to birds, fish, and aquatic invertebrates"….we have a coi pond for our bees *"Do
not allow people or pets to contact contaminated area or reoccupy contaminated areas of the structure
until clean-up is completed"…..the pile of dead bees are still there *Why does this product specifically
mention carpenter bees but no other bee??? Why was this product allowed to be used?
*It lists multiple very specific pests Taurus SC kills, why is honey bee not on the list? It says its for
termites and other wood infesting pests.
I asked why this product was allowed to be used to kill honey bees when the label is the law and the
label does not say anything about honey bees, except to NOT use it in/on commercial bee hives.

At that point I said we are a commercial bee apiary. We are Costa Honey Farm. Why could this be used
right beside our hives?
He essentially told me I wasn’t looking at the paper correctly and to bring it to him so he could show me
something. He took the paper from me and looked at it but was never able to prove me wrong on
anything b/c I was reading and highlighting directly from the paper he gave my fiancé. After I spent close
to an hr reading and studying this paper, he says this product may not have even been the product used.
My fiance and I couldn’t believe him. Dave asked him if he worked for Rentokil (the company that owns
Fl Pest Control and is quickly becoming a pest control monopoly) and Mr Sumner got very defensive.
Why would you act like that if you have no ties to the pest control industry? It took Mr Sumner over 2 hrs
to write up his report and during the whole report and his whole visit he refused to collect samples of
bottlebrush bushes, grass, soil, and dead bees. I had asked him multiple times while he was here for a
business card b/c I knew we were going to need to write a complaint about him. He finally provided me
with one towards the very end. I noticed his title and asked him "being an environmental specialist, does
the amount of dead bees bother you because it doesn’t seem like it does”?. I was expecting his response
to be absolutely it does. Or I hate to see anytime something like this happens….but instead he gave some
BS answer about he has done this for 40+ yrs and never said yes or no to a yes/no question.

In Summation, I believe Mr Sumner needs to be thoroughly investigated especially after you see the
police body cam of him coaching the neighbor on what to say/write and his reaction to if he works for
Rentokil. He was one of the most unprofessional people I have ever dealt with and made my Fiancé and I
feel like we were the problem and we did something wrong instead of us being the victims of this
unnecessary bee massacre. His tone was completely different with the neighbor who called the pest
control company and caused this whole problem. (The neighbor who told me every time she saw bees in
her yard she was gonna call to have them sprayed.) If I only met Mr Sumner from Fl Dept of Agriculture, I
would think it was a corrupt organization that didn’t care about the environment. Thankfully 2 days later
Michelle and Ed (I believe) came out and were the 100% complete opposite of Mr Sumner and were very
professional & knowledgeable, and it was obvious they worked for Fl Dept of AG and not a pest control
company. Erin and Brandon (Bee inspectors) were also professional, friendly, and extremely helpful.
Erin, especially, was super knowledgeable and she seemed truly concerned for the amount of dead bees
in our yard.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read the very real concern and for your help finding out the
cause of this bee massacre AND to find out how we prevent this from happening in the future to us and
to others. Wonder if similar situations are happening all over the US causing the decline in Bee
populations??

Bridget Saunders

Erin Jenkins', FDACS' Head Apiary Inspector, complaint for Dan Sumner, FDACS' pesticide inspector

From: Jenkins, Erin
Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2025 9:38 AM
To: Wesley, James
Subject: RE: Complaint concerning inspector Daniel Sumner for case file #325_195_2074

Good afternoon, Mr.Wesley .

Thank you for reaching out in regard to this situation and I apologize in my delay.

AES Inspector arrived on scene with a negative attitude immediately towards the beekeeper and
this investigation.

AES Inspector stated that no samples would be taken and was only there to observe. I asked if the
inspector had a bee suit, jacket or veil to minimize any stings but was told they did not have one
because of all the Hurricane supplies in their vehicle.

At this point, AES Inspector stayed in closed in screen porch while we looked through the colonies
and pulled our viral samples to send to our lab.

AES Inspector asked beekeeper what they used for treatment (Apivar strips) and then AES asked
me about Apistan which I stated it is not used often but not what beekeeper used.

After completion of pulling my viral samples, the police arrived and talked with beekeeper and AES
Inspector (police were called as beekeeper wanted the dead bees sampled next door).

AES inspector stated to all present that they already spoke with the Pest control company and was
already aware of what was used and that they would be going there next to conduct further
investigation.

When we went next door, the AES Inspector took pictures of the mass dead bees on the ground and
the property. When we began to leave AES Inspector probed questions to neighbor asking if they
were allergic to bees, if they were anaphylaxis and if so they should write a certified letter to
neighbor so they could not keep bees their anymore.

When beekeeper became frustrated there was a lot of yelling between beekeeper and AES
Inspector to were police stepped in and de-escalated the situation.

Beekeeper requested additional samples on water source that was close to the spray and bees but
AES stated they could not do water samples as the lab does not do it.

Once we returned to back yard, the AES inspector did agree to take one dead bee sample from the
ground outside of colonies. AES handed us a huge jar and said to fill it up to the top but no tools
were given to pull samples.

AES inspector told beekeeper the active ingredient used next door and then stated an hour later
that it may not have been used.

Lastly when we were leaving AES Inspector stated Thanks for coming out and I will probably get
wrote up for this .

It was clear that the inspector did not come prepared for the task that was assigned and seemed
agitated coming into this situation.

If you need anymore information from me please let me know.

Thank you very much.

Erin Jenkins
State Apiarist
Apiary Inspection Section
Bureau of Plant and Apiary inspection
Division of Plant Industry
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
Office: (352)-420-8401
Cell: (863)990-3024
Erin.Jenkins@FDACS.gov
Doyle Conner Building
1911 South West 34th Street
Post Office Box 147100
Gainesville, Florida 32614-7100

www.FDACS.gov
Please note that Florida has a broad public records law (Chapter 119, Florida Statutes). Most written
communications to or from state employees are public records obtainable by the public upon request. Emails
sent to me at this email address may be considered public and will only be withheld from disclosure if
deemed confidential pursuant to the laws of the State of Florida.

From: Wesley, James <James.Wesley@fdacs.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, April 9, 2025 12:00 PM
To: Jenkins, Erin <Erin.Jenkins@fdacs.gov>
Subject: Complaint concerning inspector Daniel Sumner for case file #325_195_2074

Mrs. Jenkins,

Good afternoon, I hope all is well your way. Thank you for speaking with me today in regard to Mr.
David Costa s bee kill incident in Marion county. During our discussion you mention that the
inspector assigned to the incident, Mr. Daniel Sumner, acted in a manner that was both
inappropriate and unprofessional. I hoped that you would be willing to provide a written statement
as to highlight your unpleasant experience with Mr. Sumner during the incident/investigation. I
intend to provide your statement to upper management for further action. Please feel free to call
me directly if you have any questions or concern. Thank you so much for your help.

Respectfully,

James E. Wesley
Natural Science Manager
Bureau of Inspection and Incident Response
Division of Agricultural Environmental Services
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

Complaint for Dan Sumner, FDACS pesticide inspector