Farmers -
Insecticides exist to harm unwanted insects but great care must be taken to avoid the insects that you don't want to harm.
Pollinating insects can be covered in the spray, or can pick up the chemical when visiting flowers that have been sprayed, or weeds in the sprayed area.
Please avoid spraying crops or weeds that are in bloom, and please spray only early in the day or late, or on cloudy damp days when pollinators are not flying.
Some chemicals, while not killing insects such as honeybees, can do significant harm and can destroy the colony.
The
Pesticides Safety Directorate, part of the Health and Safety Executive, publishes information about pesticides at
www.pesticides.gov.uk. Their helpline provides important up-to-date information on safety
with regard to bees and other pollinators, and information about pesticide
mixes which farmers might be using.
If you would like to report a planned spaying event, please use
BeeConnected, which is
a secure and confidential website hosted by the Crop Protection Association. It will notify all local beekeers on its register of any planned spraying.
Beekeepers -
Please talk to local farmers to make them aware of the dangers of spraying. All chemicals that are toxic to bees will, by law, have that stated on the label.
Encourage farmers to contact you or
BeeConnected (see below) 48 hours before they intend to spray so that bees can be secured the night before.
Make sure that your bees have adequate ventilation (but not directly from the spray area) and clean water; a wet sponge in a shallow bowl inside the hive is good.
Spraying is best done when bees are not flying - early in the morning or later in the evening, or when the weather is damp.
Hives can be opened up again once the spray has dried, but be prepared for very angry bees!
If you are not yet registered with
BeeConnected please use this link to make sure
you are notified of any planned spraying within 5km of your hives. It is safe and secure.
Spraying Incidents -
To report an unplanned spraying incident in the Romsey area, please email our secretary at
If you suspect your colonies have suffered loss as a consequence of a spray event please contact your local
Seasonal Bee Inspector
(see below) and they will guide you through the procedure for reporting this and sending samples for analysis.
