Ted Hancock wrote:
>The new biopesticide spinosad, which is widely marketed and approved
as an organic insecticide, rapidly killed bumble bee colonies at
elevated doses and impaired foraging ability at realistic exposure
rates.

I don't know if anyone else noticed this, but it appears that "Organic
Gardners" may be offering their own hazards to bees:

* * *

Spinosad: An Insecticide to Make Organic Gardeners Smile
By Lynn Rawe
County Extension Agent-Horticulture
Texas Cooperative Extension in Bexar County

Still looking for an environmentally-friendly insecticide that won't
harm beneficial insects, but still sticks it to pesky pests? You may
need to look no further. Spinosad (pronounced spin OH sid) is a
relatively new organic insecticide that quickly and safely controls a
variety of caterpillar, beetle and thrips pests.

Spinosad is especially effective on caterpillars and thrips. If you're
a flower gardener, your ears should perk up on this one. Thrips and
caterpillars are the two most bothersome pest groups on annual and
perennial flowers. Perhaps the best thing about products containing
spinosad is the safety factor for use around people, animals, and
beneficial insects. Spinosad is safe even to use around adult
butterflies and many insect predators and parasites.

* * *

Safety:
Has a "Caution" signal word, which implies reduced risk to applicators
and workers. Studies on spinosad show very low impact to mammals, the
environment, birds and predatory beneficials. However, spinosad may be
toxic to bees. (honey bee LC50 = 11.5 ppm) Applications to areas where
bees are actively foraging should be avoided.

Dow AgroSciences LLC. Conserve SC InfoSheet. Indianapolis IN.

* * *

The topical acute activity of spinosad against honeybees places
spinosad in the highly toxic to bees category of the EPA.

Gary D. Thompson, Scott H. Hutchins and Thomas C. Sparks
Dow AgroSciences LLC

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