In a message dated 9/19/98 6:50:13 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [log in to unmask]
writes:
 
> Although an individual flower will possibly produce only an infinitessible
>  amount of insecticide in it's nectar what happens when 40,000 bees are
going
>  mad in a field of millions of flowers, concentrating the nectar into honey
> and
>  feeding it to themselves, their larvae and our customers?  It must not be
>  forgotten that bees also feed on sap either directly through extra floral
>  nectaries or wounds in plants or indirectly through the secretions from the
>  rear end of aphids.
>  Does anyone know the answer?
 
    I can't claim to know the answer, but my impressions so far are very
favorable (with cotton). I have been told that 80% of the cotton around here
is genetically modified and does not need as much spraying. Most of the bee
losses come during that early bloom period, when cotton is most attractive to
bees, and this is the time, when the spraying seems to be reduced with the
transgenic cotton.
 
    In the last two summers our pesticide losses have been very small compared
to previous years. Since cotton returned to be a major crop here, our summer
losses have been severe. Previously, spraying would knock out the field force
two or three times, and by September I'd have basically a nuc left in the
hives, and often they'd be starving. Now, we have gotton a significant cotton
honey crop.
 
   This past week I handled a bunch of rip-roaring hives, to place them in
fall cukes. Some of them were so heavy, even in the brood chamber, that they
obviously should have had additional supers, and the bees were hanging out
every crack.
 
   We've been checked by the state for the African hive beetles, and are clean
so far. It's only a matter of time; they are turning up all over the
southeast, and obviously have been in the states for several years. If you
bought bees this past spring, or are near someone else who did, it would be a
good idea to check. Pop the covers and quickly check the ends of the top bars
where they meet the frame rests for small beetles.
 
[log in to unmask]     Dave Green  Hemingway, SC  USA
The Pollination Scene:  http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html
The Pollination Home Page:    http://www.pollinator.com
 
Jan's Sweetness and Light Shop    (Varietal Honeys and Beeswax Candles)
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