Mike; My bees are near cotton too. I think there is some correlation between nectar production and soil type but have no idea what it is. I know that my bees near cotton on Cecil/Appling series soils (sandy loam over red clay)make nothing, whereas 30 miles east cotton on Norfolk soils (much deeper sandy loam ) will make 1-2 supers in August. Same weather, just the Norfolk soils are east of me and in flatter country. With the advent of the boll weevil eradication program and GM cotton I have had no problems with pesticide kills on cotton. In the 'good old days' they sprayed it 14-15 times per season for weevils and boll worms. Bill in NC *********************************************** 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 Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at: http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm