Personally, I wouldn't place any hives there unless it was a temporary situation for pollination of the fruit trees. The land owner shouldn't spray for at least a week to 10 days before you bring the bees in and they shouldn't spray at all while the bees are still there.I have been asked to put up a hive on property where the owners have some fruit trees they spray for pests.
How far from the trees should I put the hive to avoid direct contamination from the spraying when it is done?
I keep a dozen hives year round at an orchard, they might be 30 feet from the end of a row. I know it's not ideal but for three years running that yard has a higher survival rate than many of my others that are no where near commercial ag. Honey yields are about average over the short time I've been at this. I probably wouldn't chose this yard again, but it's been far from my worst choice.I have all of my hives within 20' of apple and cherry trees that get sprayed. A couple of hives have been under cherry trees for about four years without any problems. I spray early mornings or in the evenings and never during the bloom.
Growing up we had 40 hives in our commercial cherry orchard, within 30 feet of the trees. We just turned the nozzles off on that side of the sprayer as we went by. We didn't spray during the bloom and never had a problem.
You need to follow label instructions and common sense.
Can you tell me what was being sprayed? I know the people where the trees are located, and the owner is really careful and follows the regulations/labels very closely.I have all of my hives within 20' of apple and cherry trees that get sprayed. A couple of hives have been under cherry trees for about four years without any problems. I spray early mornings or in the evenings and never during the bloom.
Growing up we had 40 hives in our commercial cherry orchard, within 30 feet of the trees. We just turned the nozzles off on that side of the sprayer as we went by. We didn't spray during the bloom and never had a problem.
You need to follow label instructions and common sense.
I had hives in an orchard for 15 years no problem, IF the orchard #1 sprays after petal fall, sprays at night, mows the orchard b/4 spraying, in my case they were spraying imidan, and imidan seems to repel the bees after spraying. Locking in the hives for 3 days in cold weather might work, but I doubt they would survive any warm weather. The problem that makes it harder to keep bees in the orchard is that they started thinning the trees(last I knew) with seven at petal fall, if there is any flowers on the orchard floor you will have a problem. good luckWhat if the hive was shut closed for 3 days (the morning of spraying plus 2 more) as the trees that had completed flowering (and now making buds) were treated with malathion. I was thinking the trees would no longer attract bees due to no flowers.
The residual is not a concern, the mosquito plane flies over regularly during summer and sprays at dark or in the morning just at dusk, sometimes both. While I can contact the mosquito control folks, they are spraying by truck and plane through out the county so the residual will be all around anyway.
