North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[<dmnorton@royaloakfarmorchard.com>]

We have about 40 to 60 bee hives each season, depending on how many bees 
survived the winter.  We have been using neonicotinoids for years and our 
bees are just fine.  They have produced anywhere fron 3,000 to 5,000 pounds 
of honey per season.  We have 2 ponds that keep them constantly supplied 
with water during the season.  We feed them when blooms may be scarce.  And 
we have always sprayed at night, when they are in the hive.  Our bees are 
always taken into consideration when choosing spray products and we have no 
CCD here from spraying anything!

Dennis Norton
Royal Oak Farm Orchard
Office (815) 648-4467
Mobile (815) 228-2174
Fax (609) 228-2174
http://www.royaloakfarmorchard.com
http://www.theorchardkeeper.blogspot.com
http://www.revivalhymn.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark Angermayer" <hangermayer@isp.com>
To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Sunday, February 15, 2009 12:07 PM
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] GF 120 for cherry fruit fly and neonicotinoid 
classofpesticides


> A neonicitiniod has been banned in Germany.  They claim it's a culprit in
> colony collapse disorder
>
> http://www.lancasterfarming.com/node/1303
>
> Some of the beekeepers can correct me, but I thought the latest research 
> was
> a viral complex causing the disorder.  I think there's a tendency for 
> people
> studying this to jump to conclusions.  I remember a few years ago some
> people were convinced CCD was caused by genetically modified corn.  Even 
> on
> this list, there was one individual so convinced that GM corn was the
> culprit, he flat insulted some folks who didn't accept the GM theory.
>
> There's lots of bees around here.  Black bees (don't know what kind they
> are) pollinate our sweet corn.  There's also a beekeeper close by.  So far
> he hasn't seen any CCD, but he doesn't move his bees, which may help.
>
> Mark
> KS
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Ginda Fisher" <>
> To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Sent: Sunday, February 15, 2009 9:00 AM
> Subject: Re: [NAFEX] GF 120 for cherry fruit fly and neonicotinoid class
> ofpesticides
>
>
> > On Feb 11, 2009, at 1:28 PM, Webmail wynne wrote:
> >
> > > . . .
> > > I have read that the Germans have done research suggesting the
> > > neonicotinoid class of pesticides may be/are involved in the decrease
> > > of bee populations worldwide.  In my certified organic field, i have
> > > eliminated the use of Entrust (spinosad) for codling moth due to its
> > > widespread
> > > kill abilities--the few times i have sprayed this material, all
> > > populations
> > > of insects (including the beneficials) have been decimated. . .
> >
> > Thanks, that's very interesting.  I've used spinosad in my yard for
> > the past two years.  I sprayed it on the apples and blueberries, and I
> > hired a tree company to spray my oaks.  I live in the middle of a
> > serious infestation of winter moths, and spinosad appeared less toxic
> > to me and my pets than the other options that work.  (BT is
> > recommended, but you have to spray it within a one or two day window
> > of when the eggs hatch to have any effect at all, and even then most
> > of them survive.)  How serious is the infestation?  My sister, a
> > couple miles away, had an apple and a pear tree completely defoliated
> > - not a single bit of leaf showing.  (They resprouted after the winter
> > moth season ended, and survived, but that can't be good for the
> > trees.)  I had zero apple blossoms (they mostly eat the heart out of
> > swelling buds, and selectively eat the fruiting buds before the
> > vegetative buds) and pretty scruffy looking oak leaves the year before
> > I hired the tree company.
> >
> > I had a long discussion about bees with the tree company, which claims
> > to care about such things.  They spray twice and the second spray has
> > been during apple bloom but they both drape the trees with cloth and
> > avoid spraying in that direction.  I never spray anything in bloom, of
> > course, and with my little hand-sprayer, there's not enough drift to
> > worry about it getting on the dandelions, etc.  (I have flowering
> > weeds, but not right underneath the apples or especially close to the
> > blueberries.)  But I'm pretty sure there's drift onto flowering weeds
> > from spraying the oaks.
> >
> > I haven't seen a honey bee here in more than a decade, so I'm not
> > concerned about contributing to colony collapse disorder, but I have
> > noticed a reduction in the number of bumblebees.  I have had excellent
> > pollination both years I used spinosad, despite the decrease in number
> > of bees I see.  And my late season insect population has been okay,
> > including praying mantises and other rarer bugs.  Still, this is an
> > excellent reason to monitor the situation carefully, and stop spraying
> > as soon as possible.  I understand some winter moth parasite or
> > disease has been released locally, and there's hope the population
> > will drop from "infestation" to "nuisance" in a few more years.
> >
> > Ginda Fisher
> > eastern Mass., zone 6
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