Subject: PENCAP-M (?) Insecticide

From: [email-masked] (MTHunzeker)
Date: 4 Aug 1994 23:51:05 -0400

(This seems to be my night for insecticide questions.)

A local aerial applicator is pushing PENCAP-M (I think I have the name
right) for treating corn just after it has tassled.  According to one 
of the commercial beekeepers in our local beekeepers association, 
PENCAP is a serious threat to bees, especially in tassling corn, but 
the applicator maintains that he "doesn't ever see any bees in corn" 
(probably because he is flying 6 feet above it at 60 knots).

Is this actually a legal use of PENCAP?  Does anyone have any 
experience with this?  Are there studies we can use to demonstrate the 
danger of PENCAP?  Has anyone been successful in forcing limits on the 
use of PENCAP?

Any available information would be greatly appreciated.

Mike Hunzeker
[email-masked]
Boulder County Colorado Beekeeper

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From: [email-masked] (Adam Finkelstein)
Date: Fri, 5 Aug 1994 12:20:35 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>,
>(probably because he is flying 6 feet above it at 60 knots).
 Mike, check with your state apiarist, about the law. Here in VA, if there
are known bees present, an applicator must notify the beekeeeper well ahead
of time before application, for it is illegal to spray during bee flight
as per the label.  PENCAP-M resembles pollen,
and since bees are working corn, gathering pollen, PENCAP-M,
applied at this time , would be deadly to colonies foraging.
The applicator needs to know that there are bees present. Involve your
Dept. of Agriculture in this issue, bee inspection or the State apiarist's
office, but get somebody on the situation.
 Label laws are very hard to enforce in bee kills.
Adam
(VA Bee inspector)
-- 
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 Adam Finkelstein   [email-masked]     [email-masked]     
===============================================   |Bees To Please|   =======

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From: [email-masked] (Charles Howe)
Date: Sat, 06 Aug 1994 06:04:57 GMT

>Boulder County Colorado Beekeeper
Oh yes,

Pencap-M is micro-encapsilated methylparathion as I recall. Until
Connecticut's regulation was modified to stop the use of this
material on tasseling corn we were loosing many colonies to
methylparathion poisoning every year in CT. This stuff is
particularly deadly to bees since they apparantly gather the stuff
along with the pollen (they seem to *not* be able to discriminate
between pollen and the capsules of insecticide). Once the stuff is
brought back to the colony it gets incorporated into the combs
(wax probably) and is left there when the colony expires. When new
bees are installed into the colony they may also die from the
remaining material in the combs. 

For our bees corn pollen ranks up there with dandylion pollen as
favorites among the top five. When corn tassels my bees pollen
production jumps from about 1/3 cup per day to 2 cups of corn pollen.

To get a regulation limiting the use of Pencap-M in CT. we started
by sending insecticide killed bees to the State Entomologist for
analysis. This showed that, as I recall, about 1/2 of the bees were
killed by the active ingredient in Pencap-M. If it wasn't 1/2 it
was the largest single insecticide killer of bees. At that point, we
(the CT. Beekeepers Assn.) hired a lawyer for advice and the process
of getting a regulation in CT. stopping the use of Pencap-M on
tasseling corn left the Association with a substantial debt. 

We went through this process over 10 years ago. I don't know if it
ended up in a change in the label for other states, but
Connecticut's more limiting use restrictions for Pencap-M still
stands. It is noteworthy, that after the regulation went into
affect the number of insecticide poisonings sharply declined.

If more detailed information is required I will try to come up with
names and addresses of people who worked closely with the problem
at that time.

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From: [email-masked] (Adam Finkelstein)
Date: Fri, 5 Aug 1994 12:20:35 GMT

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From: [email-masked] (Charles Howe)
Date: Sat, 06 Aug 1994 06:04:57 GMT

Oh yes,