Bill Hughes asks some good questions about this product being used on
cotton and David Green makes some excellent points in response and gives
some good advice.
 
Also remember what bees are doing at this time of the year.  They are
fanning air through the hives to ripen honey and keep the hive cool.
Malathion applied by aircraft and on occasion by ground rig may be drawn
throughout the hive by fanning bees in hot weather.  A light wind will
carry the spray to an apiary close to the field.  Also consider that cooler
air moves down slope and hives even on pallets have entrances close to the
ground.
 
I have seen colonies of bees in hives with upper entrances move up in the
hive to avoid sprays flowing down slope through a shallow draw or grade.
The bottom part of the cluster was killed but the upper part survived due
to their efficient movement of air through the upper entrance.  The line
between live and dead bees in the hive was at the level of the top of the
draw.
 
James C. Bach
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