Mark wrote:
Cotton is  a great nectar plant.  Makes a very good white honey.

I would have to agree with Mark but will talk a bit about Cotton before
those BEE-L beekeepers in areas of Cotton get all their hives loaded up and
off to the Cotton fields.

Cotton honey production is a tough game. The beekeeper has to be able to
move his beehives at times on short notice and pesticide kills are often.

I would NEVER sit hives on permanent locations within a half mile of cotton
fields unless I was  sure the Cotton field owner was responsible with his
spraying program.

A government program called the Boll Weevil Eradication program is being
started in many areas. Missouri is one of those areas.

The effort of the program requires all farmers to spray frequently, using
federal funding for the cost of chemicals.

In Texas prior to 1995 many Cotton growers had lost entire cotton crops
despite as many as 25 spray applications.

In 1995 the Texas growers started the eradication program and things have
improved.

Sprays and bees only work when everyone follows the rules.

The largest beekeeper in Missouri (8,000 hives) is locked in a bitter
dispute over dead hives caused by planes of the USDA Boll Weevil Eradication
program.

My opinion was asked by the person involved in the dispute for the USDA.
when I was at the National Small Farm trade Show a couple weeks ago.

I suggested the program pay the beekeeper and use another crop duster
company and move on.

The program is willing to reimburse the beekeeper but they are way apart  on
the amount. Will most likely end up in court.

What happened was the beekeeper had many hives on the Cotton field producing
honey. The flowers were in bloom and the field full of bees. The crop duster
sprayed the bees and also sprayed the hives themselves. The spray was found
wet on the top of the hives.

 The beekeeper was not notified  spraying was to take place (as per federal
law) nor was the spaying done at night (or dusk) when the bees were back in
the hive. Instead the spraying was done in the middle of the day.

If you dumped poison in my livestock water and killed my livestock you would
have to pay for damages. Why do beekeepers have such a hard time getting
reimbursed for negligent Arial spraying?

Bob

Ps. Alfalfa has similar spray problems  (couple sprays a season) but makes a
wonderful honey although pure alfalfa is amber to light amber at best in our
area. The light amber is usually mixed with Clover.