Top 10 Honey Bee BMPs

All parties involved in honey bee pollination of California Almonds and/or applying pesticides should follow these precautions, recently issued by the Almond Board of California, to ensure both honey bee hive health and the best possible pollination of the almond crop.

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  1. Communication should occur between all pollination stakeholders about pest control decisions. These stakeholders, as illustrated in the “Honey Bee BMP Communication Chain for California Almonds,” which follows, can include beekeeper, bee broker, county agricultural commissioner, grower (owner/lessee), farm manager, pest control adviser (PCA), and pesticide applicator.
  2. Agreements should include a pesticide plan that outlines which pest control materials may be used. The grower and the beekeeper should agree on which products may be applied if a treatment is deemed necessary. If deemed necessary, growers should give beekeepers 48-hour notice before treatment.
  3. If applying pesticides, contact your local county agricultural commissioner as specified in “Honey Bee BMP Communication Chain for California Almonds” and give advance notification to beekeepers with nearby managed hives.
  4. Avoid applying insecticides during almond bloom until more is known, particularly about their impact on bee brood — young developing bees in the hive. If treatment is necessary, only apply fungicides and avoid tank-mixing insecticides with fungicides.
  5. Any fungicide application deemed necessary during bloom should occur in the late afternoon or evening, when bees and pollen are not present. This timing avoids contaminating pollen with spray materials.
  6. Provide clean water for the bees to drink. This will ensure they spend more time pollinating the crop than searching for water. Either cover or remove water sources before a pest control treatment, or empty and refill water after a treatment is made. Check water levels throughout bloom and refresh as necessary.
  7. Do not directly spray hives with any pesticide spray application. Ensure that the spray-rig driver turns off nozzles when near hives. Spray applications that come in contact with bee hives could adversely affect bee health and the pollination of the crop.
  8. Do not hit flying bees with any spray application materials. Bees that come in contact with agricultural sprays will not be able to fly because of the weight of spray droplets on their wings.
  9. Report suspected pesticide-related bee incidents to the county agricultural commissioner’s office. Bee health concerns cannot be addressed without the data from these incidents. See “Honey Bee BMP Communication Chain for California Almonds” for reporting details.
  10. The beekeeper and the grower should agree on hive removal timing. The University of California recommends bee removal when 90% of the flowers on the latest blooming variety are at petal fall. Past this point, no pollination is taking place, and bees that forage outside the orchard (up to 4 miles) seeking alternate food sources and water will have a higher risk of coming in contact with crops that have been treated with an insecticide.

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