Hello All,
It seems to always take a while for beekeepers to listen .  beekeepers and
research slowly support
my hypothesis that bees and corn go together like water and electricity.

If you are not taking one of the bee magazines Bee Culture or the American
Bee Journal you should be!

Time to read in the busy time for me is a problem but should not be for many
others.

In the April 2012 Bee Culture ( Pg. 32) is an excellent article on bee
problems in the yards of the North Central Beekeepers Association. The NCBA
sent wax samples to "The National Science Lab " in Gastonia, North Carolina
(cost $283.50).

The lab found the usual mitacides  but also:
"However the lab also found two other substances in the wax. Chlorothalonil
at 202 PPB and chlorpyrifos at 2.3 ppb."

"Chlorthalonil is a common fungicide sold under names Bravo, Echo and
Daconil. The EPA estimates that on average almost 15 million pounds were
used annually from 1990-1996"

"about 10 million pounds of chlorpyrifos are applied annually in
agricultural areas. The MAJORITY of it, 5.5 million pounds is on CORN."

The above are taken from the article which thinks the above two chemicals in
reaction with legal mitacides could be the source of the clubs bee loss
based on an article published in the October 2011 ABJ on the fungicide
Chlorothalonil.

The articles title says everything:
"Move Those Bees!"
Authors:
Don Jackson & Scott Lucas"

Please read the entire article as I have quoted only a small part.

In years to come there will be a higher number of these type of articles
linking ag crops chemicals to bee loss.

You can move your bees out of harms way or listen to those which preach
keeping bees around corn not a  problem.

bob

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