Why Use Sevin

Thanks for the heads up details so I could not agree more on the seven. Many folks around here complain about few bees and poorer pollinations than in the past. My buddy claims that only cucumber beetles are doing the pollination in his garden and they eventually lead to vine wilt due to build up of bacterial contamination carried around by the striped beetles. Whatever it is something is certainly doing a number on honeybees. I have been wondering if some GMO’s like roundup ready beans or corn could be involved in the demise of so many bees.

I have read that GMO corn has had an impact on bees. Also Bayer's neonicotinoid pesticides are doing great harm to bees and have been banned in several overseas countries for just that reason. They are still used in the US it just makes me wonder who the EPA is really working for. Sevin is not the only problem but it is the most common one in home gardens. If you would like to learn more about neonicotinoids check out this site http://beecharmers.org/index.html

Just curious if DE is bad for the bees too. Hope someone knows!

Arlene

It is not recommended for use on plants while they are in bloom or while bees are present. It is by far less harmful than the other two named above.

I'm still on the fence about the bee problem. From what I've been reading, bees naturally swarm and make another hive every year or two, it's just what they do. Professional beekeepers try to stop them from swarming by various methods, which may(or may not) be a larger problem than insecticides. I like honey, I'm just not sure beekeeping methods are safe for bees either.

Unmutual I like your observation I am not sure that a single honey bee has crossed my path this year. Usually there are enough around outside at any moment to make me quite nervous. I have gone to botanical gardens just to look for bees and still have only seen bumbles and a few other smaller guys around. There is clearly a shortage of honeybees at this time but why. Some suggest chemicals are to blame. Sometimes weather and disease cause bee shortages no one seems to be talking about it in the media. I wonder if GMO has somehow served to put bees out of a job or to reduce essentials needed by them. You say could the nature of current honey production practices be at fault. At this time there does not seem to be an obvious vocal concerted effort to look into this situation, why. Are vested commercial interests misdirecting blame or quieting the concern or is there really nothing to worry about here. What may this have do do with the kind of growing year many of us are enduring? Is a mechanical bee next in line from the AG engineers.

Unmutual wrote:I'm still on the fence about the bee problem. From what I've been reading, bees naturally swarm and make another hive every year or two, it's just what they do. Professional beekeepers try to stop them from swarming by various methods, which may(or may not) be a larger problem than insecticides. I like honey, I'm just not sure beekeeping methods are safe for bees either.

Honey bee swarms and hive collapse are 2 totally different things. The colony will swarm when the number of bees have reached beyond sustainability. The colony rears a new queen and the old queen leaves with a swarm of workers. This cycle has been going on for many millennia. Absconding is a similar phenomena. Massive die offs or colony collapse is not the same thing.

westie42 wrote: Some suggest chemicals are to blame. Sometimes
weather and disease cause bee shortages no one seems to be talking about
it in the media. I wonder if GMO has somehow served to put bees out of a
job or to reduce essentials needed by them. You say could the nature of
current honey production practices be at fault. At this time there does
not seem to be an obvious vocal concerted effort to look into this
situation, why. Are vested commercial interests misdirecting blame or
quieting the concern or is there really nothing to worry about here.
What may this have do do with the kind of growing year many of us are
enduring? Is a mechanical bee next in line from the AG engineers.

There are folks doing research on CCD. If you google honey bees and click on news there are often stories there. Commercial pollinating practices, which lead to single food sources for the bees for weeks at a time seem to play a large role.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/silence-of-the-bees/video-full-episode/251/

graficow wrote:Just curious if DE is bad for the bees too. Hope someone knows!

Arlene

DE is bad for bees but there are different types of DE, which are different threats.

The synthetic/augmented DE's are grounds small enough that they aren't as much of a mechanical hazard to critters with a waxy exoskeleton, but the insecticides they are mixed with cause the issue.

Natural DE has a larger particle size and razor sharp edges (at a microscopic level). Natural DE basically clings to the critter, shreads its exoskeleton whenever it moves and then draws out the critters internal fluids & they die of dehydration.

Some believe that natural DE, when applied at the base of the plant, or on the ground (i.e. away from the flowers/leaves), is a minimal risk to bees. However, excessive application of the product often goes airborne with wind and can end up there anyways.

The synthetic/modified stuff creates another problem, even when its applied correctly and only on the ground; because the insecticide its mixed with poisons any standing ground water it comes in contact with. Bees aren't real picky about their water source and often drink from ground water puddles, which can kill them.

So I guess the answer is "yes", its dangerous to bees, to varying degrees, by DE type, but the risk can be reduced by the DE type you use and the application method.

My FIL lost all of his colonies this past winter. Many hives died here in the NE. Mites and diseases, like American Foulbrood, got them. There's definitely a shortage of honeybees at this time. But then, honeybees aren't native to Maine (or even to North America!!)... they need help to survive our winters. They need to be fed when their food supply runs out in late winter, early spring. It's the native bees that we need to protect, IMO. Those are our true pollinators... and what you should be looking for. You'll only find honeybees in your garden if someone near you is a beekeeper. So not seeing honeybees doesn't really mean much.