[BEES4U]

Accurate Reading, Measurement and Application of Agricultural Chemicals

It doesn't take much to do the job!

I broke down a pesticide label recommendation for the application per acre.

Label dilution recommendation: 2.5 fl oz, that's 2.5 fluid ounces / 100 Gallons of water.

Using the following Metric Calculator provides the conversion to Tablespoons which = 5 Tbs, or 15 tsp's
http://www.sciencemadesimple.net/volume.php

15 tsp/100 gallons = 0.15 tsp/gallon
ok, that does not work for the average person

Let's go back to the metric system.
http://www.sciencemadesimple.net/volume.php
Converting fl oz to ml = 73.93 ml / gallon

73.93 ml / 100 gallons = 0.7394 or 0.74 ml / gallon

Only 20 gallons of spray material is recommended / acre.
Here are some very important questions:
Who is doing the measuring of the pesticide?
How is the measurement being done and by what method?
Under what field conditions was the material applied?
Please comment.
Ernie

 

[alpha6]

This is what came up in Europe on the Bayer study. They blamed the pesticide killing on the farmers who "didn't follow the application" guildlines and is why they continue to say their products are safe. The problem is that the farmers many times don't follow the directions. I mean I guess some do but if it's like some beeks I know they just kind of mix what they think will work...but 2.5 ozs for a 100 gallons?? I wouldn't be surprised to see um dump in a gallon or two for 100 gallons. Stronger is better right?? :doh:

 

[Allen Martens]

Not much gained by biting the hand that feeds us. Most beekeepers need farmers to produce honey or provide pollination services. No point in beating up on the crop farmers. There are always a few bad apples in any bunch (farmers or beekeepers), move along, don't work with those and work with the good ones.

As far as over application, chemicals are a large portion of the cost of production for a farmer. Farmers strive to minimize inputs and maximize returns as much as any other industry. Application is usually done with sophisticated machines containing GPS and onboard computers. Often, commercial applicators of doing the application and they gain nothing from over application.

Painting farmers with a broad brush as incompetent fools is a misrepresentation and benefits nobody.

 

[Delta Bay]

Even if that stuff is mixed properly it builds up in the soil above the damaging limits over time. I see Germany has suspended about six of Bayer's products for use in 2008 and their bees are showing much better health. Same in France.
It's quite amazing how the Bayer company was born in German over a hundred years ago and they don't want the stuff spread all over their country but North America Just doesn't make sense.

http://www.cbgnetwork.de/2518.html

 

[beedeetee]

Proper application is more than just mixing. I have let my pesticide applicator's license lapse, but the test was much more than just mixing methods.

You have to calibrate your nozzles as a first step. You have to calculate the flow, spread and then the tractor speed to apply the proper concentration. When I was spraying cherries, the end trees were a problem. I had to leave the nozzles on the tree side on while turning many times because a fence would cause me to have to turn before the sprayer got past the tree. So the end tree probably got 3-4X the amount of spray as a normal row tree. Just an example....

 

[BEES4U]

:thumbsup:
Thank you for your valuable applied knowledge!
BTW, in regarding drops as a measurement:
drop being rounded to exactly 0.05 mL (that is, 20 drops per milliliter). in drops of various sizes ranging from 10 drops/mL to 60 drops/mL. ...


I use a dosage dropper for infants.

Ernie

 

[honeyshack]

With the lastest advancements with sprayers and GPS's and with the companies who developed the chemicals getting it down to lower doses, most farmers are very accurate when spraying. Over spraying does not do better, it just costs more.
When we spray, we hire a guy who uses a very expensive GPS, an accurate sprayer, and his knowlege on spray quanities to reduce our cost in application.
In the end, it is about the bottom line.

I am more concerned with the city guy who has a farmer friend who he goes to to buy a small container of pesticide or herbicide and over mixes cause he does not know the rates. The city guy guesses and dumps then sprays...causes more damage than us who are trying to minimize inputs. We as farmers watch when and how we apply the product. Too much wind, and we shut down, rain, we shut down, past mid morning we shut down.

We farmers really care about what we do to our land. As was said before painting all farmers with the same brush...not fair or right.

Next time someone thinks sprays are a detriment to the environment, stop by our area. In a 50 mile radius, crop lands were decimated by the lagus bug and alfalfa weavel. Had we and others not sprayed, there would have been no hay for the cows, no nectar for the bees and no alfalfa seed for the seed producers. It would have devistated the area.