By Matt Kelley (Radio Iowa)

Flowers in gardens across Iowa are drying up and natural food sources are dwindling for pollinators, which means stinging insects are foraging for food in other areas, and any perceived act of aggression could lead to a painful encounter.

Dr. Eric Schauberger, an allergy physician at Emplify Health by Gundersen, says they’re seeing more stings from bees, wasps, hornets and other flying insects as we get further into October.

“There’s two things that are happening. One is, this is peak hive season right now. The hives have expanded throughout the warmer seasons and they tend to peak in the late summer and fall,” Schauberger says. “The other thing that’s happening is that they’re starting to forage more because they’re starting to get hungry and there’s food scarcity.”

As the insects’ regular food sources are disappearing, they may be buzzing closer to humans than we’d prefer.

“They do seem to be more aggressive this year,” he says. “I don’t know exactly why that would be, but I mean, my kids are telling me there’s a hive at school next to the door and it’s bothersome.”

People tend to lump all stinging insects into the bee category, but Schauberger says the majority of Iowans who get stung aren’t stung by bees, even though there are many different types of bees, including bumblebees, sweatbees and honeybees.

“Most people actually are usually not stung by honeybees. Honeybees you have to really provoke to get them to sting. For the most part, most of the problem stinging insects are going to be wasps, hornets, and yellowjackets,” he says. “Those are the ones that seem to be a bigger problem. They’re also the ones that tend to be ground nesting, or they sneak into your soda can or something like that.”

Being stung by a bee -can- be life-threatening, and Schauberger says what’s known as anaphylaxis is the most severe type of allergic reaction.

“If they have a history of severe reaction, enough that they had anaphylaxis — they needed epinephrine, those patients are good candidates for allergy immunotherapy. We call it venom immunotherapy, the allergy shots to what you’re allergic to,” he says. “In that case, the shots would actually be very helpful at reducing the risk of death to stinging insects.”

Only about five-percent of Iowans have a serious bee sting allergy which might require them to carry an Epi-Pen in case they get stung.

Emplify Health by Gundersen has clinics in Calmar, Decorah, Fayette, Lansing, Postville and Waukon, and a hospital in West Union.

By O. Kay Henderson (Radio Iowa)

Early, in-person voting at county auditors’ offices starts this Wednesday and county auditors will also start mailing absentee ballots to voters who requested the mail-in option.

Winnebago County Auditor Karla Weiss, the president of the Iowa State Association of County Auditors, said people need to make sure to sign the outside of their absentee ballots. “If you don’t do that, it won’t count, so just make sure that you take your time, fill everything out, make sure that you are signing every place that needs signed,” she said. “That’s probably one of the most important things.” Absentee ballots must be county auditors’ offices by 8 p.m. on Election Day.

Candidates, their campaigns and the two major political parties are amping up their get-out-the-vote efforts. Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart said there is a coordinated effort among the Democratic campaigns for governor, U.S. Senate and U.S. House that emphasizes direct, in-person contact with voters. “Perhaps in more than a decade has it been that we’ve had this kind of ground operation, so really pleased that we’ve got more than 60 organizers on the ground, that we have more than 30 campaign offices, some of them open in place that…maybe have never had a campaign office,” Hart said during an interview on “Iowa Press” on Iowa PBS.

Iowa GOP Chair Jeff Kaufmann said Republican U.S. Senate Joni Ernst, who is not seeking re-election, has made a significant donation from her campaign funds to support early voting efforts. “The Republican Party of Iowa will have the largest, most aggressive get-out-the-vote effort in the history of the Republican Party of Iowa and a large part of that is absentee voting if that’s where Republicans choose to vote,” Kaufmann said recently on “Iowa Press” on Iowa PBS. “We want to bank the vote.”

Democrats had long held an edge in early voting in Iowa, but about 10,000 more Republicans than Democrats cast absentee ballots in 2024.

DES MOINES – For the third consecutive year, Iowa’s Water Year ended with a statewide precipitation surplus, according to the latest Water Summary Update.

The 2026 Iowa Water Year, which covers October 1, 2025, to September 30, 2026, concluded with a statewide precipitation surplus of 2.82 inches. This surplus was significantly enhanced by the fourth-wettest September on record, which delivered an average of 7.83 inches of rainfall across the state, nearly 4.35 inches above the normal amount. Statewide temperatures for September averaged 68.3 degrees, or 4.6 degrees above normal, making it the ninth-warmest September on record.

During the full 12-month water year, precipitation reached 38.37 inches, making it the 20th-wettest year on record. Additionally, the annual average temperature was 51.3 degrees, which is 3.1 degrees above normal, marking it as the fifth-warmest water year recorded.

According to Iowa’s Drought Plan, conditions improved across all five drought regions, and all regions currently maintain a normal drought designation. According to the current U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM), drought conditions reached their lowest levels since last October, with recent moisture eliminating severe drought and removing moderate drought across most of the state, leaving just over one percent of Iowa classified as abnormally dry.

The National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center’s seasonal drought outlook forecasts that remaining drought conditions in western Iowa are likely to be removed by the end of December, projecting that the entire state will remain drought-free.

“The 2026 water year ended on a very positive note, with a wet September helping us achieve our third straight year of statewide precipitation surpluses. All five of our state drought regions have returned to normal designations, and seasonal outlooks suggest Iowa will remain drought-free through the end of the calendar year,” said Jessica Reese McIntyre, DNR Environmental Specialist.

For a thorough review of Iowa’s water resource trends, visit

 www.iowadnr.gov/watersummaryupdate.