Effect on honey bees of thiodan applied to broad beans in a cage

摘要

Summary In a cage test, thiodan was sprayed on broad beans at the rate of 56 gallons of a 1 % solution per acre. The application was made an hour before bees could visit the beans, the flowers of which were of maximum attractiveness to bees. The spray repelled bees for three hours and no bee mortality occurred, although bees collected nectar extensively from the bean flowers when repellency ceased. The experiment shows that thiodan can be applied to broad beans in flower without causing bee mortality provided it is put down at a time when bees are not flying. It may be safe to apply similarly to flowering white clover pasture but should be used with extreme caution until proved so. It cannot be recommended for application to brassicas in flower until it has been shown safe by a field experiment.