Bees and Garden

brooksville · March 14, 2016

We have started keeping bee's this year and are really excited. The problem I think we are going to have is spraying for pest. Most of the "organic" pesticides we have, have a warning that the chemical is highly toxic to bees. Surely there has to be a balance between maintaining the bees health and the gardens health....
The only thing I can come up with is to spray at dusk.
Any thoughts?

dustdevil · March 14, 2016

Take into consideration any chems that stick to the plants. The bees would be exposed when entering the blossoms. I would be concerned with the possibility of tainted honey too.

BackyardFarm · March 14, 2016

My dad keeps bees. He just doesn't use pesticides. He uses floating covers, interplanting, rotation, and also just plans for losing some crops. That's probably not the answer you wanted...but it's what works for him.

brooksville · March 14, 2016

Definitely not the answer I wanted....

MissS · March 14, 2016

The only pesticide that my family used around the yard where bees were kept was Pyrethrum in the form of flea and tick shampoo. It is only effective while it is wet and is easily washed off. We sprayed at dusk when the bees went in. Waited 15-30 minutes and then came back and washed the soap off. This was repeated as needed for almost any insect problem in the yard.

The bees did just fine with this.

March 14, 2016	#1
brooksville Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2014 Location: South Georgia Zone 8a Posts: 179	Bees and Garden We have started keeping bee's this year and are really excited. The problem I think we are going to have is spraying for pest. Most of the "organic" pesticides we have, have a warning that the chemical is highly toxic to bees. Surely there has to be a balance between maintaining the bees health and the gardens health.... The only thing I can come up with is to spray at dusk. Any thoughts?

March 14, 2016	#5
MissS Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin Posts: 3,150	The only pesticide that my family used around the yard where bees were kept was Pyrethrum in the form of flea and tick shampoo. It is only effective while it is wet and is easily washed off. We sprayed at dusk when the bees went in. Waited 15-30 minutes and then came back and washed the soap off. This was repeated as needed for almost any insect problem in the yard. The bees did just fine with this. __________________ ~ Patti ~

March 14, 2016	#2
dustdevil Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: WI, USA Zone4 Posts: 1,887	Take into consideration any chems that stick to the plants. The bees would be exposed when entering the blossoms. I would be concerned with the possibility of tainted honey too.

March 14, 2016	#3
BackyardFarm Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Wisconsin, zone 4b Posts: 360	My dad keeps bees. He just doesn't use pesticides. He uses floating covers, interplanting, rotation, and also just plans for losing some crops. That's probably not the answer you wanted...but it's what works for him.