Toxicity of spray adjuvants and tank mix combinations used in almond orchards to adult honey bees (Apis mellifera).

ABSTRACT: Commercial beekeepers transporting honey bees across the United States to provide almond pollination services have reported honey bee deaths, possibly due to pesticide applications made during crop bloom. Pesticides are often applied as "tank mixes", or mixtures of fungicides and insecticides combined into a single application. Spray adjuvants are often added to tank mixes to improve the application characteristics of a pesticide and include spreaders, stickers, or surfactants. The goal of this research was to determine toxicity of adjuvants to adult worker honey bees, both when applied alone and in adjuvant-pesticide tank mixtures. Field-relevant combinations of formulated products were applied to 3-day-old adult worker honey bees using a Potter Spray Tower, and mortality was assessed 48

SUBMITTER: Shannon B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10564267 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature