Prevent Bee Poisoning

It is important to protect bees when you spray. Honeybees, as well as other bees and insects, are important pollinators of crops. Many crops also offer bees important sources of nectar for honey production.

If you choose to use insecticides for insect control, take these steps to prevent harming bees when you spray:

• Before you apply a pesticide, advise local beekeepers, so that they can move colonies out of the danger area. Contact the Provincial Apiarist at 1-888-466-2372 for a list of the beekeepers in your area.
  
  
• Do not spray any flowering crop on which bees are foraging. If you must apply insecticides, spray after 7 PM when the bees are not foraging. If this is not a possibility, spray before 7 AM.
  
  
• Do not apply insecticide on windy days to prevent drift.
  
  
• When there is a choice, choose the product formulation that is less hazardous to bees. Dusts are more toxic than sprays. WP formulations are more toxic than EC formulations.
  
  
• Under the Bees Act, it is an offence to spray in orchards while there is bloom on the trees.

Most organophosphate and carbamate insecticides are highly toxic to bees. Examples of insecticides used in crop production that are very toxic to bees are listed in Table 10-6, Relative Toxicity of Insecticides to Honeybees, on page 208.

Table 10- 6.

Read each pesticide label for specific precautions regarding bees.

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