10 acres of Pumpkins in full bloom, Amish soaking them with Sevin!?!?!!!!!

[TIMER]

When I came home today my Amish neighbors were spraying their pumpkin field (in full bloom) with Sevin.
Only 200 yards from my 50 colony home yard. I went straight over to talk to them and they had apparently just gotten started.
However they had already sprayed a good strip and I could clearly see the bees working the open blooms.
They were very polite and stopped the spraying.
I offered to screen in my bees tonight so they could spray in the AM.
After the spray has dried I will open things back up. I don't think there are many options here.
They don't want to lose the pumpkins, I don't want to lose my bees.
Any suggestions? Will the bees be harmed by this once the spray has dried?

[jmgi]

The Amish using pesticides, what is this world coming to.

[Riskybizz]

From the net...

Carbaryl (Sevin)

Bees poisoned with carbaryl can take 2–3 days to die, appearing inactive as if cold. It allows them time to take contaminated nectar and pollen back to the colony. Some crops treated with Sevin under the wrong conditions (in bloom, using a dust formulation, with large numbers of bees in the field) have been responsible for disastrous kills. Sevin is one of the United States' most widely used insecticides for a wide variety of insect pests. It is also one of the most toxic to honey bees, in certain formulations. These should never be sprayed on flowering crops especially if bees are active and the crop requires pollination. There are formulations, however, which are determined to be less toxic (see tables). Usually, applicator-beekeeper communication can effectively be used to adequately protect bees from Sevin poisoning.

[mulesii]

Your neighbors must be Mennonites. Amish would not use pesticides.

[sqkcrk]

Your neighbors must be Mennonites. Amish would not use pesticides.

You shouldn't use generalizations like that. They aren't true. I know plenty of Amish who use pesticides.

[Wil]

I know of over a dozen Amish that use extreme amounts of pesticides!!! In some area they use more then any other farmers as they are not health conscious anymore, they are about the money!!

[Ian]

no. its all about making a living. In todays market place, if the produce isnt perfect, it doesnt get bought

[TWall]

The Amish do things to make money. They are not afraid to use fertilizer or pesticides. If they think a pesticide will help them make money they will use it. Like all farmers, some are better than others. Some worry more about protecting their crop/livestock than following labels.

Most Amish only go to school through the eight grade. Understanding pesticide labels and calibrating application equipment may be a challenge for some.

Amish does not equal organic.

Tom

[spieker]

I raise some winter squash. It blooms in the AM and usually by mid afternoon the blossoms are closed. I would think pumpkins would do the same. I think it would be best if the pumpkins were sprayed in the evening when the blossoms are closed. Then, in the AM, the blossoms will open up and be clean. Otherwise, the Sevin spray will get into the blossoms.

I am not an expert on this. Just trying to help.

[danmcm]

agree with spieker. squash and pumpkin bloom early and are often worked by squash bee and honey bee early in day. Best for bee if spray is late in day but if it is wet and humid it's not so good for the pumpkin... without pollinators hitting those flowers they will have alot drop off and have poor pumpkin set. And lets be real Amish like baptists are different from area to area and some are more lax then others. Squash bugs and squash beetles are hard to control and they don't have a good bio-control out there for them. gotta strike a balance.

[TIMER]

These are dirt floor poor Amish, very good people but no recourse for me if they kill my bees.
Just got off the phone with Bayer Crop Science, the first thing the representative said is make sure the wind isn't blowing toward your bees. I just about exploded on him, he obviously knew nothing about pollination.
Then he pulled the label up on his system and said wait a minute the residual will kill bees for up to 30 days (well DUH!!!)
His final answer was "tell them to find another (more bee friendly) product to take care of their problem or they'll hear from your attorney". As I said these are very poor Amish, and It would do no good to go after them.

[bluegrass]

Amish I know always use loads of pesticides. They have too, their lives depend on the crop.

[matt1954]

We pollinate hundreds of acres of pumpkins. Our growers spray at night. They also move the hives (which are on trailers) out of the area prior to spraying and return them the next evening or later depending on the type of spray.