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Author Topic: beekeeping and cotton fields  (Read 8151 times)

Offline 10framer

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beekeeping and cotton fields
« on: January 31, 2013, 09:52:20 am »
i'm within a couple of miles (by road of some big cotton fields).  my understanding is that since the boll weevil is no longer a problem farmers don't usually spray pesticides on cotton any more.
when i was a kid they were still using crop dusters.  there's no telling how much of that smelly stuff i inhaled before i was 6.
anyway, do i need to make friends with the farmer and see what he does?  or is it most likely nothing to worry about?

Offline BjornBee

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Offline hardwood

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Re: beekeeping and cotton fields
« Reply #2 on: January 31, 2013, 10:28:20 am »
Maybe Bud will chime in...he's had bees on cotton for many years.

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Offline tryintolearn

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Re: beekeeping and cotton fields
« Reply #3 on: January 31, 2013, 10:39:06 am »
south carolina here many cotton fields nearby and yes.... they do spray with pesticides...ive had several occassions of many dead and dying bees...never wiped me out but several hundred dead several seasons

Offline 10framer

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Re: beekeeping and cotton fields
« Reply #4 on: January 31, 2013, 11:14:48 am »
we had bees close to cotton fields in the 70's and 80's and never did anything special when they were spraying but those were different times. 
the loss of a few hundred field bees per colony after the major flows are over might actually be helpful when you consider that we no longer have winters here.  my big concern is the introduction of pesticides into the hives and the long term problems that brings.
i think that the varroa may be coming under control thanks to selective breeding and the beetle problem will follow since the bees have one less problem to fight.  this really leaves pesticides as the next major problem. 
i suppose that changing comb every few years could keep that under control but it's an expensive fix. 

Offline Nature Coast Beek

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Re: beekeeping and cotton fields
« Reply #5 on: January 31, 2013, 12:04:29 pm »
Good article in this month Bee Culture on EXACTLY this subject. Article goes into putting bees on ag crops, specifically beans and cotton. There is spraying and losses can be severe. Article also elaborates on how important it is to place hives in PROPER LOCATION where crop dusting is lower risk. Advises setting hives closer to tree lines and obstacles where sprayers would have to pull up and away. Good article by extension apiculturist in Dept. of Entomology at Miss. State University. I thought is was a good read and pretty insightful as to the tension between beeks and farmers. Farmers don't mind the bees so much and allow hive placement, but really don't want to hear it about hive losses and beeks really don't want to push the issue since they want the honey crop. These farmers don't need the bees, but see their overall agricultural benefit and will spray them none the less, unintentionally of course. It's a risk/reward call for the beek.

Offline sterling

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Re: beekeeping and cotton fields
« Reply #6 on: January 31, 2013, 12:15:19 pm »
I know a beek in the NW part of TN. who runs about 160 hives and every year after the clover bloom he moves all his hive to cotton fields. He says the bees can collect nectar from stem to bloom. But I have not heard him talk about the pesticides. But I will see if I can get some info from him.

Offline 10framer

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Re: beekeeping and cotton fields
« Reply #7 on: January 31, 2013, 04:38:54 pm »
ok, indirectly this has answered my question.  i don't plan on setting my bees on the fields i just have a lot of cotton within one to two miles of my place.  there should be no risk of direct spraying i was just wondering if field bees working the cotton would be bringing dangerous amounts of pesticide back to the hive on days when they spray.  sounds like it probably won't be a major issue.
just from talking to people in the area it seems like the soy bean farmers use more pesticides than the cotton farmers.  keep the info coming, though.

Offline AllenF

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Re: beekeeping and cotton fields
« Reply #8 on: January 31, 2013, 09:29:24 pm »
I had some bees once within a mile of the fields.   Lots of good white honey stored up real quick. 

Offline 10framer

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Re: beekeeping and cotton fields
« Reply #9 on: January 31, 2013, 09:37:36 pm »
allen that's what i wanted to hear.  i think it blooms for a long time too, doesn't it?

Offline tryintolearn

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Re: beekeeping and cotton fields
« Reply #10 on: February 01, 2013, 09:26:03 am »
im so close to the cotton fields here i have to take what comes...but one thing about the honey..very sweet light colored but it crystalizes quickly

Offline 10framer

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Re: beekeeping and cotton fields
« Reply #11 on: February 01, 2013, 09:46:10 am »
im so close to the cotton fields here i have to take what comes...but one thing about the honey..very sweet light colored but it crystalizes quickly

from what i can tell it comes into bloom around july down here.  my plans would be to leave it on for winter.  i'm just happy to have late flows.
as the trees leaf out i'll have a better idea of what's going on around me.  i have privet, i'm assuming tulip poplar, a lot of pastures nearby so i should have clover, red maple is coming in now and i'm hoping to have some sumac.  i'm near a swamp bottom/big creek so i may have sourwood but i'm not counting on it and i personally own at least 15 acres of goldenrod.
so, add all that to the cotton and i should be able to harvest some good honey up until late june and still have enough forage to not have to feed through the winter (in a perfect world anyway).  i'm sure there's also a lot of holly around and some ornamental stuff i'm not taking into account.  there are sunflower fields in the area as well.  it would appear i'm in a good spot but time will tell if i'm right.
again, keep your experiences with cotton coming.  also who has experience with soy beans?  i haven't seen any within 10 or 15 miles but i probably haven't seen all the fields around me.

Offline bud1

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Re: beekeeping and cotton fields
« Reply #12 on: February 01, 2013, 10:56:25 am »
cotton and beans reall produce and the cemicals they use now days are kinda specific to their target. nock off some field bees, but never hurt the hive and once you taste the honey dont think you will be leaving it on the hives.  i have one dood that comes from wisconson that buys around 15 supers a yr.  if i can  i lie to set ub between a cotton and a bean field. the cotton wil bloom from july 1 to september. most of your honey wil be a honey dew produced by a little node on the stem behind the bloom
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Offline 10framer

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Re: beekeeping and cotton fields
« Reply #13 on: February 01, 2013, 11:11:10 am »
bud, i actually like dark amber to really dark amber honeys.  sumac is my absolute favorite followed by tulip poplar.  i do realize that light amber to clear appeals to the consumer a lot more, though.

Offline Satch

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Re: beekeeping and cotton fields
« Reply #14 on: February 01, 2013, 12:35:09 pm »
My dad has bees in SE MO and has cotton all around him.  Very light honey that is good. :-D

The bad is that they do spray and are supposed to let him know, but we usually find out a few days later with a bunch of dead bees.  They do come back, just hate to see the loss at the time.

You will like the results of the cotton.  Try to set up closer if you can.

Offline 10framer

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Re: beekeeping and cotton fields
« Reply #15 on: February 01, 2013, 02:21:23 pm »
My dad has bees in SE MO and has cotton all around him.  Very light honey that is good. :-D

The bad is that they do spray and are supposed to let him know, but we usually find out a few days later with a bunch of dead bees.  They do come back, just hate to see the loss at the time.

You will like the results of the cotton.  Try to set up closer if you can.

i've got a plan for my second yard about 15 miles away and it's a lot closer to ag fields (1/4-1/2 mile).  that's where my splits will be going this year.

Offline AstroBee

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Re: beekeeping and cotton fields
« Reply #16 on: February 01, 2013, 04:52:21 pm »
I've had bees in and around cotton for 12 years. Once 11 years ago I got hit hard, but since then no direct kills. I consider my bees as very healthy and have seen no sign of problems. Last year was a record year in terms of harvest per colony.

Offline kingbee

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Re: beekeeping and cotton fields
« Reply #17 on: February 02, 2013, 10:06:45 pm »
Cotton is not the big bad bugaboo it once was.  GMO Bt cotton has taken most of the insecticides out of cotton culture and has knocked the bowl worms' and the bowl weevils' nose in the dirt.

There are some insecticides still sprayed on cotton but it is not the 10-15 applications that was once used.  (the cotton in your area may vary) In the Rio Grand valley there may be some of the bad old things still used to keep the bowl weevil on the Mexican side of the border.  Also the Rio Grand valley is never cold enough to kill overwintering or volunteer cotton plants and this gives Mr. & Mrs Bowl Weevil a winter home.  Check with your local County Agent (USDA) for the current state of the bowl weevil eradication program in your area.

There is still a danger that soy beans will be sprayed with some very bad stuff and on pretty short notice to kill several kinds of moth caterpillars.  The alternative is planting a non-nectar producing soy bean variety.  I fail to see any benefits for the bees or for the bees' keeper in that.
« Last Edit: February 04, 2013, 11:05:16 am by kingbee »

Offline kingbee

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Re: beekeeping and cotton fields
« Reply #18 on: February 02, 2013, 10:29:41 pm »
http://southwestfarmpress.com/cotton/cotton-industry-concerned-pesticide-blame-honey-bee-decline

I have never met a class of people who were at the same time smarter but as lazy as a news paper reporter is.  It seems that their idea on how to win a Pulitzer prize is to copy the words of other long dead reporters and pass those words off as their own.  This is why you are still reading stories about all the insecticides that are sprayed on cotton over 30 years after the Bowl Weevil Eradication Program got off the ground.

I guess that gives the reporters more time to fish for olives and pearl onions down at the local watering hole.  That imho is why a reporter who looks for facts or does his or hers' own research and reporting is novel today.  This is also why groups on opposite sides of an issue are always courting the news media.  Their EASY.
« Last Edit: February 03, 2013, 07:39:18 am by kingbee »

Offline lazy shooter

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Re: beekeeping and cotton fields
« Reply #19 on: February 02, 2013, 10:36:27 pm »
Cotton is a late maturing crop, and I would think that in most years the flow from cotton would be later than the spring flow.  In brief, it will be blooming when other blooms are fading.  It is great honey.

 

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