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British Columbia, Canada

I noticed this a lot this summer. What is the cause of this? I did NOT use any fungicides or pesticides, yet I would find as many as 10 dead bees in each of the male flowers.

11/10/2013 10:04:22 PM

Muddy Waters

Did you use merit? Bayer tree & shrub?

11/10/2013 10:27:33 PM

British Columbia, Canada

Nope didn't use those. All organic this year.

11/10/2013 10:48:00 PM

Menomonie, WI ([email protected])

Are you sure they were dead? Sometimes when it is cool in the morning they just hang out..until it warms up above 70 degrees

11/11/2013 7:33:28 AM

Upa Creek, MO

I have had it when they get pollen drunk. They barely move, but once I remove the petals they fly away.

Also, if they are dead, maybe a neighbor is using a systemic. It takes longer to kill the bee.

11/11/2013 7:46:52 AM

Mnt.pleasant ,tennessee

Kept finding little dead bugs in my males.figured it was from the rain& heavy dews,cause sometimes there'd still be water they were floating in.

11/11/2013 8:39:28 AM

Ontario

I'm afraid all systemics are in the class of neonicatinoids, google neonicatinoids to find all the chems. in this class it will shock you. They disorent the bees, making it hard to get back to the hive. 24hrs. with out making it back, their toast. Maybe thats why they are in the pumpkin flowers?If they do make it back ,they carry all the pollen back to the hive , which is used by all the hive, which contaminates the whole hive...Terry

11/11/2013 9:36:06 AM

Quincy, CA

I found several honeybees in flowers this year and there was usually a crab spider nearby.
http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=203839

11/11/2013 11:06:58 AM

Eurasia

dguyd, I thank you so much. I had seen this in your diary in summer and your picture helped me to understand this problem.
http://www.arkive.org/crab-spider/misumena-vatia/

11/11/2013 1:15:38 PM

Hanson Ma

Do you live near a large farm that uses pesticides?

11/11/2013 3:26:36 PM

British Columbia, Canada

I live near fruit orchards that use pesticides. Although they only spray the trees during June and July, while most of the dead bees were showing up in August / September.

11/11/2013 3:51:29 PM

Hanson Ma

I would be interesting if they would tell you what they use. and what its effective time span is. Maybe long trem it affected the bees.

11/11/2013 4:36:48 PM

Ontario

A lot of spraying creates drift, which if it lands on weeds or wildflowers, grow and flower later in the season. Corn is becoming a big crop for ethenol in Ontario, bees go to it for pollen, as well, canola,even potatoes , are sprayed with Admire and it's generic.It's hard now to avoid it, I'm afraid to say. A bee will fly 5 miles for food...Terry

11/11/2013 7:03:25 PM

Hanson Ma

Bees are a new hobby I have been thinking about and my stepson is interested. This is a big concern if commercial farming with pesticides is done (not to say that is the problem your having). I understand about maximizing crops. In general we have to wonder how much we are hurting ourselves by using to much lethal options. How ever I hope you can figure out your possable cause. And if you are not using pesticides I congratulate you for doing your best to not hinder the wild life that is also a part of giant pumpkin growing. Even though to get to our goals we sometime have to go to extreme measures on our small levels of growing. If you know the grower just check in. Good luck for next year.

11/11/2013 8:00:01 PM

BC, Canada

JA
Are you familiar with the squash bee? Pepoapinas or something like that. It is the reason that we do not need to have hives in squash or pumpkin fields in North America. The males and I believe females that aren't laying eggs sleep in squash flowers. They are the reason that honey bees don't spend much time in squash flowers - all the pollen is gone with the squash bees.
So finding dead honey bees in your squash flowers is possibly incorrect, I am guessing that you just have a really good population of squash bees. That's great.
If this happens again next year attempt to identify the type of bee. There is probably a bee keeping group in your area that could identify the species.

And yes, pesticides are a massive problem for us all. As people who grow gardens, and probably food as well as pumpkins, we need to be aware of the dangers to human health and environmental side effects of the various chemicals we use. Education is the big one.
Meaford- not all pesticides are neonicatinoids. But they are the most widely used pesticides. "Admire"- another neonicatinoid marketed by Bayer with a pleasant sounding name. Read the label!! Use caution.

11/11/2013 9:12:52 PM

Eurasia

http://www.puzzle-forum.de/forum312/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=4871

11/12/2013 3:07:02 AM