In my opinion nobody really knows what is dangerous anymore. I heard on Dr. Nancy some discussions about drugs for people, and what ones are and are not harmful. Aspirin and Tylenol are hot topics. Evidentally Tylenol or the real name for it is in many other medicaitons. People will take the other medications, and then take Tylenol too, and get quite sick.

If there are the problems about people medications, I cannot imagine what secrets there are about plant and outdoor sprays and products.

Just today when I arrived home I saw a honeybee on a rose bloom, and another on the sidewalk. They were both very slow. I spray nothing and haven't for years, but they are dying. It is such a shame.

Sammy

Sammy it could be your neighbors killing the bees.

Bayer keeps pumping out all these nasty toxins. I am beginning to hate that company. It produces Sevin which is notorious for killing entire hives of bees, and it produces imidacloprid which is also toxic to bees (but at least it doesn't destroy the entire hive like Sevin). I boycott anything produced by Bayer Crop Science. Their name to me spells Bayer the Killer Science.

Yeah, if I were a person who did use synthetic fungicides I would never! buy their Bayer Disease Control--I would hope rose growers would boycott them until they remove that evil Sevin. But sadly even many rose forumers support the use of Sevin, so if I mention any anti-Sevin, it creates a whole bunch of ruckus. I tried arguing with my local nursery too that they should discontinue Sevin, all to no avail. I think as organics people no matter how difficult the battle we need to say something, to at least let people be aware of the bad toxins.

There are also viruses that can also weaken bees; but the point is if there weren't so many nasty toxins floating around, the bees would have much more of a fighting chance and be able to survive....

I agree with you, but sadly I don't think it is neighbors. I think it is professionals. We had a tree sprayed once a few years ago, and when I saw the chemicals in the air, I was mortified. At that time I had been spraying my roses, and was very careful to just hit the roses. This man was trying to soak the tree.

I think that Bayer has stuff that you pour into the ground. When we had woolley aphids this past month -- again, the advice from the Master Gardener was to pour the stuff in the ground all around the tree. It would get into the leaves, and keep the woolley aphids from landing on the tree. They said that was the only way to get rid of them.

They aren't that smart!!!! You should have seen that crane pull up the trunk of the tree as the guy sawed it off. There is no tree now.

I don't think most people consider themselves involved in matters of bees or any other issues.

I have written too much. Must go

Sammy

Let's not forget that honeybees die from natural causes all of the time. The life of the forager bee is very, very brief. As a matter of fact, by the time bees become foragers, they are old in honey bee terms. It's the last 'job' they get as part of a busy hive community.

I'm not detracting from the problems caused by pesticides, but let's not forget the reality of their natural lives, too. It would be normal for you to see more dead and dieing honeybees at this time of year.

Serena, I agree with you on Bayer products. I shudder when I see their name. I doubt I would ever buy a product of theirs

If any product is meant to kill insects why would it not harm all insects. There are a few very selective controls out there, and all that I am familiar with are bacteriums, that aim at just a few types of insects. But any product that lists a very wide range of insects is a broad spectrum poison and will kill even insects not listed.

Bayer is always pleased to do a bit of researching and make happy lil announcements like "An aspirin a day can prevent a heart attack" What they failed to tell any of us was how they cloned the antioxidants of a blueberry to add into there pills Wild blueberries hold the highest amount of antioxidants with pomegranates coming in a very close second both are very effective in helping one loose weight. In turn weight loss can help prevent heart attack. A pint of Wild blueberries from Maine will cost one much less than a bottle of pills at a ratio of 6 pints to one 200 count bottle of aspirin which still don't help one loose weight ( that's fresh blueberries not flash frozen bags) the amount of plastic from the bottled water and the empty pill bottle will takes No idea of time to decompose, where the lil pint box will sit in a mid summers compost heap for three days and be 100 % gone (Well it's more like 9 quart sized boxes plz don't ask me how I know this )

A different and current test result went like this :

A field of tomatoes grown 100 % organically held no added nutritional benefits when compared to a second field of conventionally grown tomatoes of many types
I am sure you see more than I do when reading that, but here are just a couple thoughts

They never did mention what field yielded more tomatoes or boasting sizes ect.... but most importantly was Yep the soil they left behind from a conventional method and there failure to announce what the results of that field was

A seperate and independent study is still being conducted regarding the effects on bees and cell phone usage the bayer company is happy about because they see it as a diversion on pesticides

Arent you happy they took that personality test prior to an inteview I ponder what they answered when asked have you ever lied

I am not even going to get into there Bayer all in one for plants

Fun Fact:During the Roman period, roses were grown extensively in the Middle East. They were used as confetti at celebrations

I don't use pesticides and I don't grow plants that don't do well in my area. I try to provide plants that will encourage bumblebees and they in turn pollinate my veggies for me. They love apple trees, butterfly bushes, hidcote lavender and my tamora rose. They also really like my 3' sunflowers. Bumblebees can do a nice job of pollination if honey bees are not available. People like to bring butterflies and hummingbirds into the garden...just remember the bees.

Forgot to mention coneflowers! They look great with the purple butterfly bushes and the bees would fall asleep on them in the evening :)

Hi, Lavender Lass! I bet those coneflowers look gorgeous with the purple butterfly bushes. And butterflies too loooove those coneflowers. I never realized that coneflowers were so popular until I visited the special butterfly exhibit at Powell Gardens. All the exotic butterflies swarmed to the coneflowers more than any other flower in the entire exhibit hall. All of them ignored the orchids, LOL! (I grow 2 orchids and the rest are roses-hence my additional observation) LOL, LOL! Lavender Lass in one of my areas, I can't grow anything at all because of tree roots.I've tried dwarf bee-balm to know avail and have to step up the battle with more invasive flowers like heather perhaps. I was lucky to discover fireweed but where to get it is up to question, LOL! Fireweed is so beautiful (I discovered it in a Dave's Garden newsletter) and it can tolerate poor drainage too!