Various insects, birds, and other animals pollinate plants. Bees, especially honey bees, are the most vital for pollinating food crops. Many California crops rely on bees to pollinate their flowers and ensure a good yield of seeds, fruit, and nuts.  Pesticides, especially insecticides, can harm bees if they are applied or allowed to drift to plants that are flowering.

 

Our mission at the University of California Agricultural and Natural Resources (UC ANR), Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM) is to protect the environment by reducing risks caused by pest management practices. UC IPM developed Bee Precaution Pesticide Ratings to help pest managers make an informed decision about how to protect bees when choosing or applying pesticides.  You can find and compare ratings for pesticide active ingredients including acaricides (miticides), bactericides, fungicides, herbicides, and insecticides, and select the one posing the least harm to bees.

 

Ratings fall into three categories. Red, or rated I, pesticides should not be applied or allowed to drift to plants that are flowering.  Plants include the crop AND nearby weeds.  Yellow, or rated II, pesticides should not be applied or allowed to drift to plants that are flowering, except when the application is made between sunset and midnight if allowed by the pesticide label and regulations.  Finally, green, or rated III, pesticides have no bee precautions, except when required by the pesticide label or regulations.  Pesticide users must follow the product directions for handling and use and take at least the minimum precautions required by the pesticide label and regulations.

 

A group of bee experts in California, Oregon, and Washington worked with UC IPM to develop the Bee Precaution Pesticide Ratings. They reviewed studies published in scientific journals and summary reports from European and United States pesticide regulatory agencies.  While the protection statements on the pesticide labels were taken into account when determining the ratings, it is important to stress that UC IPM's ratings are not the pollinator protection statements on the pesticide labels.  In a number of cases, the ratings suggest a more protective action than the pesticide label.

 

The UC IPM ratings also include active ingredients that may not be registered in your state; please follow local regulations. In California, the suggested use of the bee precaution pesticide ratings is in conjunction with UC Pest Management Guidelines (for commercial agriculture) and Pest Notes (for gardeners).  Each crop in the UC Pest Management Guidelines has a link to the Bee Precaution Pesticide Ratings database and provides guidance on how to reduce bee poisoning from pesticides.

 

For more information on protecting bees from pesticides, see UC IPM's Protecting Natural Enemies and Pollinators, and use the Bee Precaution Pesticide Ratings.

The Integrated Pest Information Platform for Extension and Education (iPiPE) is dedicated towards creating a nationwide data base system that tracks various crop pests and diseases. The program aims to address the need for a more efficient form of pest and disease management in crops to increase profit by decreasing the amount

investment that is directed towards pesticides and other killing agents. Efforts are being made to establish a single online system that communicates pest populations, pest and disease risk models, pest and disease alerts and other helpful commentaries by Extension professionals. The system would primarily assist growers and PCAs in monitoring potential threats to crops and allow them to share their findings through the iPiPE data system. Exchanging observations with neighboring growers and PCAs would allow a better network of communication to emerge allowing for a change in culture, a culture of “progress through sharing.”

iPiPE is currently collaborating with several integrated pest management programs (IPM) and universities across the United States in order to refine the online system and begin to introduce iPiPE to the agricultural community. Here at the University of California's Cooperative Extension facility in Blythe, CA, entomologist Dr. Vonny M. Barlow is currently working on his second year with Euchsistus servus and iPiPE interns

Ashley Van Vliet and Kathleen Reyes. Eushistus Servus, or Brown Stink Bug (BSB), populations in cotton are being monitored as well as their injury to the cotton bolls in order to determine if the insect is a major nuisance that requires significant investment in pesticides for their eradication. Pyramid traps in three commercial fields were placed with aggregation pheromone in order to attract the BSB. They were collected from each trap every seven days and sweeps were conducted to gather the bugs from surrounding plants. Their injury to cotton were observed by inspecting bolls externally and internally in search of, warts, cotton staining, and boll rot.

iPiPE interns Reyes and Van Vliet have been responsible for working with Dr. Barlow in gathering data and sharing their findings in the iPiPE online data system. Their work with the system is serving as a trial to help the program enhance their system features and allow a collection of data to save in order to begin the creation of the pest and disease tracking content for future pest management practitioners. Reyes and Van Vliet have also made efforts to be advocates for iPiPE by reaching out to PCA's and growers through different forms of communication methods. Outreach methods included emails, phone calls and personal meetings. As a form of educating growers and PCA's about iPiPE, a handout with information about the goals and benefits that the

program offers was designed and distributed. A PowerPoint presentation was also created to serve as an educational tool when informing others about the collaboration between the iPiPE program and UCE-Riverside.

iPiPE's efforts in creating a change in culture by launching their data system has been ambitious and it is the hope of the program that in time the agricultural community will hop on board and take note of the many benefits a nationwide database system can offer. Before that time comes, however, iPiPE will continue to devote its attention to encourage growers and PCAs to join the movement as well as optimize its content for the future benefit of the agricultural industry.