Cotton is now in bloom. If you are a beekeeper in cotton country, now is
the most dangerous time of year for your bees, because they will be working
cotton blossoms. Insecticide applications can drop the field bees in the
cotton fields. This type of damage is not immediately obvious, but can lead
to weak hives and winter losses from bees that are depopulated to the point
where they cannot hold heat.

   Other types of insecticides can be carried back to the hives, causing
massive dieoffs at the entrance. These are obvious, and often cause the
direct death of the hives. Other times, the hive appears to recover, but the
poisoned pollen is just stored underneath fresh pollen, only to be uncovered
and eaten in winter, when pollen is in short supply.

   The only protection bees have from misuse of pesticides is knowledgeable
and assertive beekeepers who will educate growers and applicators, and see to
it that violators who kill bees, don't get away with it.

    Check out the newly available resources at:
http://www.pollinator.com/cotton/

    In a couple days, they will be advertized to cotton growers, applicators
and others involved in the industry. Beekeeper comments are solicited.

Dave Green    Hemingway, SC

The Pollination Scene
http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html

The Pollination Home Page
http://www.pollinator.com/