At 05:30 PM 10/20/97 GMT+2, you wrote:
>Can anyone help me with any of the following questions?
>
>(1) Is Penncap-M still used in the USA, Europe, Australia - and on
>what crops?
 
Yes, about the same as in your area, can't say for sure as I don't have a
label for the product close at hand.
 
>(2) What are the spray conditions (pertaining to bees) for its use?
 
Again, without the label it would be a guess but you can be sure it has the
normal precautions including "don't apply to blooming crops when bees are
in the field", or some such statement.
 
>(3) Are there still honeybee losses due to Penncap-M?
 
Yes of course, maybe the latest being reported in Colorado.
 
The main danger from this formulation of parathion (sp) is that the size of
the material when it dries is about the same as that of pollen and the bees
bring it in with the pollen and it kills them until that pollen is used up.
 
One problem we have in the USA is that there is no Federal reporting
requirements for pesticide bee kills. There is a program to record bee
losses but because of the fact it is not required to report them, for
example only one bee kill was reported from pesticides for California in
1995, the same for Arizona like California a state that most beekeepers
would feel very lucky if they had only one pesticide loss for each yard per
season.
 
Good Luck, with any use of Penncap-M you will need all you can get.
 
IMHO
ttul, the OLd Drone