On Aug. 14 I posed the following question to Brian Ames
in Minnesota: "If there are honeybees working the bloom
when soybeans are being sprayed with Lorsban, then what's
stopping you and other beeks from posting videos of that
fact on YouTube to document the alledged widespread
label violations?"
Brian responded: "Most beekeepers have no time to
ponder You Tube etc...the [Lorsban] label says do not
spray on bloom. Not my problem how the bean grower
figures out how to do it without spraying on bloom."
The Lorsban 4E label actually says: "do not apply this
product to blooming crops or weed IF BEES ARE VISITING
THE TREATMENT AREA."
http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu87/4ALC/ffd.jpg
Between Aug. 15-18 I spent 4 days driving around the farm
roads of south-central Minnesota looking for evidence
that soybean farmers were spraying insecticides on
soybean fields in bloom when honeybees were working
the blooms.
I failed to find even one case where honeybees were
working the blooms of any of the numerous soybean fields
I checked. I did find examples of honeybees working
the blooms of weeds growing along the margins of
soybeans like this:
Landscape view of blooming soybeans:
http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu87/4ALC/ffa.jpg
Closeup view of the soybean blossoms with
no pollinators present:
http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu87/4ALC/ffc.jpg
Closeup view of honeybee visiting the milkweed
flowers growing along the margin of the blooming soybean
field:
http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu87/4ALC/ffb.jpg
But no honeybees or other pollinators were observed
on the soybean blooms. Evidently honeybees rarely
visit soybean blooms. So it makes sense to me Minnesota
farmers can legally spray soybean fields in bloom without
being in violation of the label directions.
Paul Cherubini
El Dorado, Calif.
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