maxim

12 years ago

Hey everyone,
I am shocked to find that I may be poisoning the bees here. I use only organics, never spray and bumble bees "nest" in my yard every year.

This is the first year that I have started growing peas. The peas I got from Vessey's are coated with Maxim. I didn't realize this.

So I have peas that we've eaten, peas that are ripening and peas that are growing with no flowers.

Will Maxim harm the bees? Can I keep these peas and change next year to non coated peas? Should I yank them all up. :(

Thanks for your help.
Carol

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Comments (3)

User
12 years ago
Maxim is a combination fungicide.

One of the ingredients is toxic to bee larvae, but this is pretty much null/void when it's coated on a seed rather than being sprayed near hives when bee larvae are around.

Long story short, it's a really small amount of Maxim and it's not very persistent in the soil.

You can make other choices in the future without worrying too much about what's in the ground right now...especially this much time after planting.
canadian_rose
Original Author
12 years ago
Oh thank you so much!!!
I feel tons better!
Carol
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Kimmsr
12 years ago
Maxim is supposedly made from certain soil bacteria and the manufacturer, Syngenta, says it is "practically non toxic" to bees. As a seed coating the chance of any of it and bees making contact will be quite slim, although it is listed as quite toxic to aquatic life and it may reach water even if in the soil.
Probably your planting will not be much of a danger to the environment this year but in the future look at the seed catalogs more closely for seeds coated with these fungicides.