Pesticides
| Common name (ISO) | Examples of Brand names | Pesticide Class | length of residual toxicity | Comments | Bee toxicity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aldicarb | Temik | Carbamate | apply 4 weeks before bloom | Relatively nontoxic | |
| Carbaryl | Sevin,
(b) Sevin XLR |
Carbamate | High risk to bees
foraging even 10 hours after spraying; 3 – 7 days (b) 8 hours @ 1.5 lb/acre (168 g/Ha) or less. |
Bees poisoned with carbaryl can take 2–3 days to die, appearing inactive as if cold. It allows them time to take contaminated nectar and pollen back to the colony. Some crops treated with Sevin under the wrong conditions (in bloom, using a dust formulation, with large numbers of bees in the field) have been responsible for disastrous kills. Sevin is one of the United States' most widely used insecticides for a wide variety of insect pests. It is also one of the most toxic to honey bees, in certain formulations. These should never be sprayed on flowering crops especially if bees are active and the crop requires pollination. There are formulations, however, which are determined to be less toxic (see tables). Usually, applicator-beekeeper communication can effectively be used to adequately protect bees from Sevin poisoning. | highly toxic |
| Carbofuran | Furadan | Carbamate | 7 – 14 days | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ban on use on crops grown for human consumption (2009) carbofuran (banned in granular form) | highly toxic |
| Methomyl | Lannate, Nudrin | Carbamate | 2 hours + | Should never be sprayed on flowering crops especially if bees are active and the crop requires pollination. | highly toxic |
| Methiocarb | Mesurol | Carbamate | highly toxic | ||
| mexacarbate | Zectran | Carbamate | highly toxic | ||
| Pirimicarb | Pirimor, Aphox | Carbamate | Relatively nontoxic | ||
| Propoxur | Baygon | Carbamate | highly toxic | ||
| Acephate | Orthene | Organophosphate | 3 days | Moderately toxic | |
| Azinphos-methyl | Guthion, Methyl-Guthion | Organophosphate | 2.5 days | banned in the European Union since 2006. | highly toxic |
| Chlorpyrifos | Dursban, Lorsban | Organophosphate | banned in the US for home and garden use Should never be sprayed on flowering crops especially if bees are active and the crop requires pollination. | highly toxic | |
| Coumaphos | Checkmite | Organophosphate | This is an insecticide that is used inside the beehive to combat varroa mites and small hive beetles, which are parasites of the honey bee. Overdoses can lead to bee poisoning. | Relatively nontoxic | |
| Demeton | Systox | Organophosphate | <2 hours | highly toxic | |
| Demeton-S-methyl | Meta-systox | Organophosphate | Moderately toxic | ||
| Diazinon | Spectracide | Organophosphate | Sale of diazinon for residential use was discontinued in the U.S. in 2004. Should never be sprayed on flowering crops especially if bees are active and the crop requires pollination. | highly toxic | |
| Dicrotophos | Bidrin | Organophosphate | highly toxic | ||
| Dichlorvos | DDVP, Vapona | Organophosphate | highly toxic | ||
| Dimethoate | Cygon, De-Fend | Organophosphate | 3 days | Should never be sprayed on flowering crops especially if bees are active and the crop requires pollination. | highly toxic |
| Fenthion | Entex, Baytex, Baycid, Dalf, DMPT, Mercaptophos, Prentox, Fenthion 4E, Queletox,Lebaycid | Organophosphate | Should never be sprayed on flowering crops especially if bees are active and the crop requires pollination. | highly toxic | |
| Fenitrothion | Sumithion | Organophosphate | highly toxic | ||
| Fensulfothion | Dasanit | Organophosphate | highly toxic | ||
| Fonofos | Dyfonate EC | Organophosphate | 3 hours | List of Schedule 2 substances (CWC) | highly toxic |
| Malathion | Malathion USB, ~ EC, Cythion, maldison, mercaptothion | Organophosphate | >8 fl oz/acre (58 L/km²) ⇒ 5.5 days | highly toxic | |
| Methamidophos | Monitor, Tameron | Organophosphate | Should never be sprayed on flowering crops especially if bees are active and the crop requires pollination. | highly toxic | |
| Methidathion | Supracide | Organophosphate | Should never be sprayed on flowering crops especially if bees are active and the crop requires pollination. | highly toxic | |
| Methyl parathion | Parathion, Penncap-M | Organophosphate | 5–8 days | By far the most potentially damaging pesticides for honey bees are those packaged in tiny capsules (microencapsulated). Microencapsulated methyl parathion (PennCap M), for example, is a liquid formulation containing capsules approximately the size of pollen grains, which contain the active ingredient. When bees are out in the field, these capsules can become attached electrostatically to the pollen-collecting hairs of the insects, and at times are collected by design. When stored in pollen, the slow-release feature of the capsules allows the methyl parathion to be a potential killer for several months. At the present time, there is no way to detect whether bees are indeed poisoned by micro-encapsulated methyl parathion, so a beekeeper potentially could lose replacement bees for those already poisoned by the pesticide. It is, therefore, strongly recommended by experts that this formulation be used only when honey bee exposure is not a possibility.
It is classified as a UNEP Persistent Organic Pollutant and WHO Toxicity Class, "Ia, Extremely Hazardous". |
highly toxic |
| Mevinphos | Phosdrin | Organophosphate | highly toxic | ||
| Monocrotophos | Azodrin | Organophosphate | Should never be sprayed on flowering crops especially if bees are active and the crop requires pollination. | highly toxic | |
| Naled | Dibrom | Organophosphate | 16 hours | highly toxic | |
| Omethoate | Organophosphate | Should never be sprayed on flowering crops especially if bees are active and the crop requires pollination. | highly toxic | ||
| Oxydemeton-methyl | Metasystox-R | Organophosphate | <2 hours | highly toxic | |
| Phorate | Thimet EC | Organophosphate | 5 hours | highly toxic | |
| Phosmet | Imidan | Organophosphate | highly toxic | ||
| Phosphamidon | Dimecron | Organophosphate | highly toxic | ||
| Pyrazophos | Afugan | Organophosphate | fungicide | highly toxic | |
| Tetrachlorvinphos | Rabon, Stirofos, Gardona, Gardcide | Organophosphate | highly toxic | ||
| Trichlorfon, Metrifonate | Dylox, Dipterex | Organophosphate | 3 – 6 hours | Relatively nontoxic | |
| Permethrin | Ambush, Pounce | Synthetic pyrethroid | 1 – 2 days | safened by repellency under arid conditions. Permethrin is also the active ingredient in insecticides used against the Small hive beetle, which is a parasite of the beehive in the temperate climate regions. | highly toxic |
| Cypermethrin | Ammo, Raid | Synthetic pyrethroid | Less than 2 hours | Cypermethrin is found in many household ant and cockroach killers, including Raid and ant chalk. | highly toxic |
| Fenvalerate | Asana, Pydrin | Synthetic pyrethroid | 1 day | safened by repellency under arid conditions | highly toxic |
| Resmethrin | Chrysron, Crossfire, Pynosect, Raid Flying Insect Killer, Scourge, Sun-Bugger #4, SPB-1382, Synthrin, Syntox, Vectrin, Whitmire PT-110 | Synthetic pyrethroid | highly toxic | ||
| Methoxychlor | DMDT, Marlate | Chlorinated cyclodiene | 2 hours | available as a General Use Pesticide | highly toxic |
| Endosulfan | Thiodan | Chlorinated cyclodiene | 8 hours | banned in European Union (2007?), New Zealand (2009) | moderately toxic |
| Clothianidin | Poncho | Neonicotinoid | Banned in Germany
In June 2008, the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (Germany) suspended the registration of eight neonicotinoid pesticide seed treatment products used in oilseed rape and sweetcorn, a few weeks after honey bee keepers in the southern state of Baden Württemberg reported a wave of honey bee deaths linked to one of the pesticides, clothianidin. |
Highly Toxic | |
| Thiamethoxam | Actara | Neonicotinoid | Clothianidin is a major metabolite of Thiamethoxam. A two year study published in 2012 showed the presence of clothianidin and thiamethoxam in bees found dead in and around hives situated near agricultural fields. Other bees at the hives exhibited tremors and uncoordinated movement and convulsions, all signs of insecticide poisoning. | Highly Toxic | |
| Imidacloprid | Confidor, Gaucho, Kohinor, Admire, Advantage, Merit, Confidor, Hachikusan, Amigo, SeedPlus (Chemtura Corp.), Monceren GT, Premise, Prothor, and Winner | Neonicotinoid | (see also Imidacloprid effects on bee population)Banned in France since 1999 | highly toxic | |
| Dicofol | Acaricide | Relatively nontoxic | |||
| Petroleum oils | Relatively nontoxic | ||||
| 2,4-D | ingredient in over 1,500 products | Synthetic auxin herbicide | Relatively nontoxic |
Read more about this topic: Pesticide Toxicity To Bees