pesticides in the shop
I am reading the backs of products in the nursery. Bayer Advanced is a systemic product and in tiny letters says: "This pesticide is toxic to bees exposed to direct application." It is a granular product so is it less toxic to bees than this --
Green Light Spinosard which says "this product is toxic to bees exposed to treatment for 3 hours following treatment. Do no apply this product to blooming, pollen-shedding or nectar-producing parts of plants if bees may forage on the plants during this time period."
Given that nurseries are selling and people are buying pesticides, is there a way to have people use them in a safer way? Could the second product be applied in the evening when bees are perhaps less active? Is the granular better because bees don't go down on the ground much? Are there some products that are less terrible than others? I don't mind squashing bugs but a lot of
people do.
The Green Light product is being sold as a "green" product but it actually sounds more dangerous.
What can you tell me about this whole messy issue?
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The most green thing anyone
The most green thing anyone can do is to change the environment. If you're getting wasps nesting behind shutters, in hollow support beams, or under deck over hands, or in unused sheds... you need to change these things or live with them. A caulking gun can stop nests form forming in most nooks and crannies.
If you have ground nesting bees, unfortunately there isn't much you can really do besides till the ground or make an effort to change the type of soil or add a garden area or stop caring about them. The three inch long Cicada Killer is probably the worst offender of this and is in no way looking to sting humans, you can bash there brains in with tennis rackets without fear of being stung. The thing about ground nesting bees though is (I believe) ALL of them are only active for a month or two of the year. They only form 1 to 3 generations in a year, more so down south than up north.
Until you change the environment you won't get rid of the bees, you'll always have them coming in from other places.
Larger issues such as Yellow Jackets, Hornets, and Honey Bees which are more social and form hives, you should probably be using these pesticides on. Or call a professional or ask your county office to recommend one for you.
In the case of Honey Bees they usually send out a beekeeper who will ask for the cost of gas at least. If they're nesting in your walls then they may charge more, but if it's just a cluster of bees they usually don't charge for that. More aggressive wasps and hornets I'd say only bother with them if they're in a location that is annoying to you. They are wonderful and a natural alternative to insecticides. Some of these wasps such as the Scoliid wasp are natural predators to beetle larva.
Spraying plants to kill bees and wasps is sheer idiocy, in that I just don't understand the problem. Both are pollinating the flowers, and the wasps are most likely patrolling the plants for caterpillars and beetles. A lot of the more discrete forms are social parasites of aphids, and all the bugs that are causing harm to the plant.
People like direct solutions and want to spray to know they're doing something. The reality is everyone believes they're allergic to bees but they don't know a bee from a wasp. The Beekeepers I speak with all complain about the same thing, no one knows what a honey bee looks like.