1. KEEPING THE STING OUT OF
POLLINATOR PROTECTION
Senior Pesticide Managers
Workshop April 24, 2012
Presented by
Dennis Howard
Maryland Department of Agriculture
2. Population: 5,633,597
Land Area: 9,774 Sq. Miles
Land in Farm Acres: 2,035,000
Farms: 12,000
Average Farm Size: 170 Acres
Reg.Bee Colonies: 10,011
3.
4. In the mid and late 1980’s
Maryland beekeepers
experienced several bee
kills that resulted from use
of Penncap-M, a micro
encapsulated formulation
of methyl parathion.
At that time, the
Environmental Hazard
Statements on the product
label did not provide
adequate protection for
bees.
5. Bees foraging on
crops treated with
Penncap-M picked
up the Micro
capsules and took
them back to their
hives, where it killed
the majority, if not all
of the bees in the
hives.
6. PESTICIDE DRIFT Historically,
Maryland has
experienced a
number of bee kills
due to bees
foraging on crops
that had been
treated with the
pesticide product
Sevin (Carbaryl)
or, to crops where
Sevin had drifted
on crops where
bees were
foraging.
7.
8.
9. OBJECTIVE
To provide pesticide applicators with
geographic information that will assist
them in locating sensitive crops and
commodities before applying pesticides so
they can take appropriate precautions to
reduce the risk of off-target movement of
pesticides and possible exposure and
harm to non-target crops/commodities and
habitat.
