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Pulaski Tn [email protected]

i have a delima...i'm getting into beekeeping...with about 3-4 hives this year..but in the past i have noticed many dead honey bees in the blooms of my pumpkins due to the systemic spray i use for svb's...so what to do?? let the svb kill my plants or kill my honey bees with the spray?? is there any way around this??

2/20/2005 11:35:44 AM

Western NY

i would either quit the systemics, or pick off all the males. your female flowers should not be accessible for the bees anyway, so there wouldn't be any contact.

2/20/2005 12:37:32 PM

[email protected]

Or use soil applied systemic Imidacloprid (Admire, Merit, etc) since it doesn't translocate to the flowers. Don't spray it on the plants. Just drench the roots & water it in. The bees won't dig.

Andy's idea of removing surplus flowers is the best though. The plants are wasting energy producing those extra flowers. And soil applied systemics will never get everything you're after.

2/20/2005 1:33:15 PM

Mn

Spray at night or around sunset. This when the flowers are closed. If you spray when the flowers are closed the insecticide will not get inside the flowers and thus when the bees collect the pollen from the flowers the won't get killed. I used no sprays last year. I just used a systemic lawn insect killer called Grub-EX. It has Imidacloprid in it. If you do use this insecticide you can't eat the pumpkin.

2/20/2005 2:17:27 PM

Oz

Are you going to eat the honey?

2/20/2005 7:50:23 PM

Pulaski Tn [email protected]

i plan on eating it
how can the systemic not translocate to the flowers and the pollen?

2/20/2005 10:03:21 PM

[email protected]

Imidacloprid is labeled for use on edible fruits & vegetable for this reason. It only accumulates in the vascular parts of the stems, vines & leaves. It never makes it to flowers or fruit. Honest.

2/20/2005 10:14:08 PM

Ottawa, Ohio

Don't use Sevin dust. The bees can cary it back to the hive. It will the stay deadly in the hive for a long time. Could kill the queen and the rest of the hive. Sprays are better becuase the stick to the plant better. If a few bees die in the flowers its better than if they make it back to the hive.

2/21/2005 12:32:38 AM

Rhode Island

GIVE MY GOOD FRIEND JIM KUHN ( NEW HAMPSHIRE ) A CALL

JIMS BEEN GROWING AGS AND HAS HAD BEE HIVES FOR YEARS

IN FACT OUR NICK NAME FOR HIM IS " BEEKEEPER "

ILL FORWARD YOU HIS PHONE NUMBER

DICK

2/21/2005 5:22:18 AM

White Bear Lake, Minnesota

How do you control what other people put on their gardens? Bees travel a far distance, and visit many plants.

I can see the Queen's little sign on the doorway now, "wash the Sevin off your feet before entering".

2/21/2005 10:48:32 AM

Pulaski Tn [email protected]

thanks..guys..Tremor..if a single one of my my bees die...your fixin to tote a ass whoopin...lol

2/21/2005 11:21:54 AM

[email protected]

I better start working out now then....LOL....since I cab guarantee many bees will die....from old age!

It varies by time of year, but the average life expectancy of a female worker is about 4 or 5 weeks!

http://www.honey.com/kids/facts.html

2/21/2005 1:56:03 PM

Montoursville, PA

A dead bee loaded with pollen becomes an immediate source of pollen, for the living. So if a worker bee has picked up an effective contact insecticide guess what?

Orchards that are sprayed and serviced by professionally placed hives are closely scheduled so the bees are not, in the orchard, during the active spray periods.

Calculated risks are built into the beekeepers cost and overhead if their business is pollination service.

2/21/2005 2:29:45 PM

[email protected]

The State of Connecticut's DEP maintains a list of active bee keepers which is sent to us commercial pesticide applicators (I keep the license even if I don't use it) every year so we don't decimate bee populations. I believe most States do this. One of my more memorable customers over the years was a big time bee keeper. The guy was quite a character & was always willing to share information.

2/21/2005 6:26:17 PM

Tipp City, Ohio

I used Admire in my patch last year on an acre of field pumpkins. Best crop ever. My neighbor also had his best honey season ever. Coincedence?

2/21/2005 8:10:26 PM