Farmers and beekeepers? Friends or foes?

[Qualiall]

Hi--don't keep bees myself-Apartment life I guess-but I like to watch beekeepers on the ol YouTube and hope somehow my living situation will allow for it one of these days.

Anyway, I was wondering if any beekeepers have farmer neighbors that may from time to time spray pesticides on their crops.  I'm not one of those people who think pesticides are a bad thing, and using modern tech in farming isn't  evil. 

However, I imagine that if you live near someone who sprays their crops, you would have some sort of understanding between you two that they should at least warn you ahead of time before they do.

What sort of preventative measures would you take when informed your neighbor is about to spray?

[vadentwin]

I have an acquaintance who tried bee keeping and he is surrounded by farm land, most peanuts. His bees kept dying and he gave up. I am pretty sure it was due to pesticides. I have also heard most pollinator bee keepers refuse to go to citrus farms now because of the high amounts of pesticides and fungicides used.  My property abuts a small blueberry farm but they are certified organic and I haven't had any issues.

There isn't much you can do to if a neighbor is about to spray whether it is a farm or a person with sod web worms in their St. Augustine. Just pray your bees are attracted to something in the opposite direction

[Rojodiablo]

Hi--don't keep bees myself-Apartment life I guess-but I like to watch beekeepers on the ol YouTube and hope somehow my living situation will allow for it one of these days.

Anyway, I was wondering if any beekeepers have farmer neighbors that may from time to time spray pesticides on their crops.  I'm not one of those people who think pesticides are a bad thing, and using modern tech in farming isn't  evil. 

However, I imagine that if you live near someone who sprays their crops, you would have some sort of understanding between you two that they should at least warn you ahead of time before they do.

What sort of preventative measures would you take when informed your neighbor is about to spray?

In many cases, if a beekeeper talks to a farmer, they usually will adapt a bit to be helpful, like spraying pesticides in the late afternoon so the bees have mostly left, and the poison has some time to soak in, and the flowers will open more the next morning with less poison on them. Also, a smart beekeeper will work with a farmer's schedule and move his bees for a few days if there will be a heavy spray that he can get advance notice about.

[Dirt Rooster]

Most large scale farmers are on a schedule just like beekeepers and if you're friendly with them they'll gladly give you a heads up before spraying.  It's on the beekeeper to be aware though.  A lot of time beekeepers will set up in the vicinity of beneficial crops without the farmer's knowledge.  Nothing wrong with that as long as there's no trespassing going on but if a beekeeper doesn't know their neighbors and someone crop dusts or sprays and kills all the bees it's on the beekeeper.  As an example, down here we don't have row crop farming much but I heard a story last year of a beekeeper who put out twenty four hives on someone's farm without the farmer's knowledge or permission.  I'm not sure of the farm or what the crop was.  A crop duster was hired to spray the property and all the hives died.  This particular beekeeper tried to blame the farmer for his losses.  He didn't end up recouping any money of course.  These two men had a history from years prior and somehow they came to an agreement and worked out a deal for him to keep bees on the same property the following season.  In my humble opinion that farmer was either a sucker or extremely nice.  If someone trespassed on my place and then blamed me for their resulting misfortune they would likely not be welcomed back.

[Chuckles84]

I live in a town that still runs a mosquito fogging truck through town during the summer.  Because of that I have chose not to have any bees here at my house.  May put some on my parents place since they live in the country.

[Dirt Rooster]

I live in a town that still runs a mosquito fogging truck through town during the summer.  Because of that I have chose not to have any bees here at my house.  May put some on my parents place since they live in the country.

If you'll let mosquito control know where your yards are they will mark them on their maps and not spray with 1/4 mile of your yards.  That's what they do for us.  One of those guys was at my house this evening picking up some equipment.  He is a beekeeper as well.

[vadentwin]

My father was a mosquito control sprayer when I was growing up. I often would ride along with him. He would always honor any request for him to not spray near someone's property if asked. He would also circle around a house if asked. Not sure that was advisable back then with the malathion they sprayed. Probably not allowed today. Being bees don't fly at night I would think if the sprayer stayed away the bees exposure would be very low to nonexistent.