did I just kill my bees

[slacker361]

 I have a vegatable garden with potato plants and i have had problems with potato bug larva, so I sprayed the plants with spinosad, Have I just committed bee-o-side on my hive?

[John Schwartz]

A good possibility that any bees near or on the potato plants will die. It's an insecticide. It kills bees per http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinosad

[Kathyp]

i have not found the bees to be to interested in my potatoes.  in the future, you might try spraying late or early when the bees are not out, or do not spray when they are blooming.  no flowers usually = no bee kill.

[Jim134]

 :roll: Do you read the MSDS on spinosad if not why not  :?

http://www.dow.com/PublishedLiterature/dh_014a/0901b8038014a09b.pdf?filepath=productsafety/pdfs/noreg/233-00381.pdf&fromPage=GetDoc


look at pg.3



   BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)

[slacker361]

well I did not read the msds and only read through the whole book after applying the spinosad. Yes I MADE A MISTAKE, and this is why i asked the question. I understand that i will be spraying in the future late at night. I was worried that if any bees came over that they would take it back to the hive and cause death on a massive scale.  As standard practice if a product is listed as omri then i useally dont read the msds but usually read the instructions fully.   

[sarafina]

I am sorry - hope your bees are ok.........

[Scadsobees]

Unless you have a huge potato plot and the bees are nearby and you had drifting insecticide go over the bees, well then they're probably ok.  Potatoes have some flowers, but I don't think that there'd be enough to kill more than a couple of bees.  Sure, maybe beeicide on a few, but more than a few die every day anyway.

You can start worrying if you see lots of dead, dying, disoriented bees around the hive.  Until then just sit back and enjoy the thought of larvae free potatoes :)