I find that less then perfect disease and chemical control is acceptable and customers will eagerly buy somewhat damaged fruit. It was not that long ago folks on BEEL insisted one could not make a living selling all honey raw thats crystallized. My how a decade of consumer education has changed that myth. 

Worms from Apple Maggot Fly in July are the worst offenders that make a customer recoil, so I put extra attention on that pest by using the sticky red ball traps to give me an indication on pest pressure. Coddling Moth though ruins the fruit in its infancy during June and they either fall off the tree or are readily seen while picking. If you know your pests like in beekeeping you can develop mitigation strategies. So some damage can be weighed as to the costs (dollars and environmental) to protect from that small loss .

No spray rarely works and is not an option if you have a financial goal to meet. For the home grower researching scab resistant varieties like Honey Crisp is the first place to start if you want to avoid fungicides (not insecticides) all together. 

WIth 2500 apples trees under my control I have not spent over $500 per year on chemicals. Nearby orchards are spending as much as 10X that to get the perfect apple. I pit my product against them and point out gee those look perfect at what cost to the environment? I have a throng of customers after 15 years of this approach. 

We don't spray after the end of July and don't have to wash the fruit either before packing for farmers market. I have had my fruit tested by I think it was FDA in a random survey and it came back negative compared to EPA limits and I told them what I had used ahead of time. 

Its a continuum out there of growing practices and while neonics are part of the arsenal, there are others like the pyrethians and a host of other smaller technologies. So its not like a grower is making a choice of all neonic or not.  I have said repeatedly that there is no reason to be using insecticides at prebloom stage so I just don't understand the claim then that pollinators are routinely exposed to neonics at bloom.  If you have no fruit what are the insects preying on? Expensive scorched earth spray programs are probably trying to head off the larval stage and load up the tree with chemicals at prebloom. This distinction can be made with a grower beforehand if a beekeeper is considering  renting pollination services. After petal fall all bets are off as that first insecticide spray is considered important as you now have immature fruit to protect. 

So really post bloom is a more dangerous place for bees. 

I do not feel that apples need to be in the same category of concern for pollinators as oranges, melons and berries that bloom later in season when the pests are at full force and the risk factors for the grower are different. Often here in MN we have cool damp weather after bloom and the insects do not take off until warmer weather moves in during June. As with beekeeping, all apple growing is local and my experience may not be the same as say a drier climate Washington and clearly Missouri which maybe is more warm and humid during bloom but we do not have problems like citrus greening that create an insect risk for a grower at prebloom.  So its really apples and oranges (pun intended)!

If there is a credible claim to be made about neonics and apples, its the summer carry over of residue in nectar in pollen to the next season. I have seen little science to show that is a widespread concern.....yet.

To add some clarity to this discussion, fungicides are the chemicals of concern during apple bloom in my view NOT insecticides and the last time I checked there are no systemic fungicides. 

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html

Access BEE-L directly at:
http://community.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-LSOFTDONATIONS.exe?A0=BEE-L