Dave,
 
They were probably spraying for cereal leaf beetle.  CLB has invaded the
southeast in the last 6 - 8 years and can be extremely damaging to
wheat.  Affected fields have a white cast where the CLB have stripped the
chlorophyl form the flag leaves of the wheat.  Farmers in North Carolina
have begun to spray their wheat in April over the last several years.
 
Bill Lord>
>In a message dated 96-06-08 15:27:04 EDT, Allen Dick wrote to me in private
>correspondance of some unclear statements I made.
>
>
>>> Wheat we've seen has been clean of
>>> mustard, or else perhaps hasn't been sprayed.  The martins and
>>> swallows may have done a sufficient job.  They sure were "swarming"
>>> over the wheat fields.
>>
>>What are we saying here?
>>
>>Are you talking about herbicides?
>>
>>Do the birds eat the mustard?
>
>   Boy is this ever fuzzy!  I am sorry, and will try to proofread more
>carefully next time.
>
>   Most damage we've had in the early spring is from wheat spraying, which
>should not be a problem, as wheat is not attractive to bees.  However, the
>wild mustard is a common weed in wheat fields, and foraging bees are killed
>by the application.  This is, of course a label violation, to apply while
>bees are foraging, even though they are not on the crop; they are on a weed
>in the application area.
>
>   The pest for which the application is made is, I believe, a fly, which
>causes damage just before the wheat heads.  I cannot recall the name of the
>fly (perhaps Hessian Fly??).  The martins and swallows were working these
>fields heavily this year, and may have caused sufficient control.  I did not
>see any pesticide applications being made; they normally are aerial, and
>pretty obvious.
>
>   I observed the martins and even more so, the swallows, concentrating on
>wheat fields for about two weeks.  It was obvious that they were feeding
>heavily on something that was only over the wheat.  In fact I got kind of
>high, watching them do their thing.  -Obviously a kind of biological
>control.....
>
>   Hope this helps clear the muddy waters.  I'll pass it on to the list also,
>in case anyone else found it confusing.
>
>[log in to unmask]    Dave Green,  PO Box 1200,  Hemingway,  SC
>29554
>
>Practical Pollination Home Page            Dave & Janice Green
>http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html
>
>
 
 
 
--
WILLIAM G LORD
E-Mail  : wglord@franklin
Internet: [log in to unmask]
Phone   : 9194963344