Weed Killing

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chrischris

New Bee
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uk, east ardsley, west yorkshire
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12 + nucs
Hi fellow bee keepers, this might sound like a moan but this morning when walking my dogs round the local football/playing fields saw this chap with a full white boiler suit, white wellies and full breathing mask on walking round the field edges spraying something from a pressurised spraying system. To cut a long story short he was a council employee and was spraying weed killer. He said it was to kill all the weeds around the field edges where the mower could not get into, he did say it was environmentally safe?. My thoughts are what effect it would have on the bees, butterflys and insects, if it was that safe how come he was so well protected. So not only have farmers spraying to contend with but now the council as well.:confused:
 
Hi fellow bee keepers, this might sound like a moan but this morning when walking my dogs round the local football/playing fields saw this chap with a full white boiler suit, white wellies and full breathing mask on walking round the field edges spraying something from a pressurised spraying system. To cut a long story short he was a council employee and was spraying weed killer. He said it was to kill all the weeds around the field edges where the mower could not get into, he did say it was environmentally safe?. My thoughts are what effect it would have on the bees, butterflys and insects, if it was that safe how come he was so well protected. So not only have farmers spraying to contend with but now the council as well.:confused:

Rather depends what it was- but probably not a problem. The only real chance of it harming bees is if he was spraying with the weeds in flower- but then most herbicides would still be OK, after all they're not designed to attack insects.

(OK RAB, your turn :D)
 
Happens where I live in Southampton as well. Most years and, I reckon it's been going on for about 7/8 years they use a motorized buggy and drive on the pavements spraying along the edge of properties. Like you say, why are they in full contamination gear? Makes you wonder! Just seems to me that nobody in power CARES! :rant:
 
probably sprayng 'roundup' or similar,a herbicide, not an insecticide

btw, don't your council spray all the footpath edges, car-parks, sides of roads, etc
 
Setting aside the possible toxic effects (glyphosate is far from the benign substance we're led to believe), "weeds" are essential for all sorts of beneficial insects - no wonder all sorts of wildlife is in crisis......
 
Setting aside the possible toxic effects (glyphosate is far from the benign substance we're led to believe), "weeds" are essential for all sorts of beneficial insects - no wonder all sorts of wildlife is in crisis......

The good news is on larger areas eg road verges. Hard to believe they used to spray them with lawn weed killer to keep them tidy- now they are more likely to sow wild-flower mixes.
 
They wont be spraying for long.
With all the Goverment cut backs the poor guy will probably be unemployed by August :(
 
I understand pesticide issue for possibly having an affect on bees and needs a lot more research but now jumping on the herbicide crusade to is a bit much, in 80s 90s most of the stronger chemicals were banned which left us with glyphosate that is the chemical all councils use now, we wear coveralls and willies as is the uniform to wear when carrying 20lts on your back I never worn mask as U don’t need it, guys love to see all grass verges with mass colour wild flowers but U have seen roads pavements ect push apart with invasive weeds what should we do ?
 
(OK RAB, your turn )

Skyhook, you were spot on.

Brossy added a bit about lack of forage for all the food chain above the producer.

You need to remember that some weedkillers and perhaps the delivery agents can be harmful to the operative in either small or excessive doses.

Gramoxone was a very reliable defoliant, but lethal if drunk by design or mistake.

So using the full PPE should not be regarded as OTT. Sensible person doing a less than sensible task IMO. Remember (s)he might be spraying for hours at a time (apart from tea breaks); problems with safety of chemicals may only manifest themselves after some considerable time and exposure (think smoking cigarettes and perhaps asbestos exposure, for examples here).

Regards, RAB
 
"but now jumping on the herbicide crusade to is a bit much" totally fails to take on board the damage done by habitat destructon - if you treat one part of "nature" the knock-on effects must be taken into account.
Latest research is also showing that glyphosate is implicated in several problems like cancer, genetic damage and ADD - as RAB says "full space suit job" for the sprayer is not being over-cautious.
 
I work for local authority and have my pesticide licence. As an employee I HAVE to wear the full kit irrespective of what I am spraying. I think you will find that all councils now use sprays that are bee friendly I know ours does as this was the first thing I asked. There is alot of paperwork involved when spraying, environmental reports, pesticide record books etc. Its not just a case of just go and spray that over there.
 
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Veg,

So you consider killing off the 'bee forage' is 'bee-friendly'? I don't.

As regards 'all the equipment .....'. I suppose they (the local authority instructions) have to be '***** proof'. Sraying water comes to mind, or even soapy water, for that mattter.

'Appropriate PPE' is a better term, than going suited up for everything on every occasion.

Regards, RAB
 
"l councils now use sprays that are bee friendly" - herrumph! The CPA would like you to believe that!
 
Oliver90owner most of the stuff we spray is knotweed.
 
most of the stuff we spray is knotweed.

In the context of the thread, I'm afraid I have to disagree.

Quote from post #1:

He said it was to kill all the weeds around the field edges where the mower could not get into

The inference from that statement is that most of the weeds (bee, and other invertebrate fauna, forage) is removed by the mower and the rest is killed by spraying herbicides. They don't even leave any forage for the wild horses and cattle these days, but the rabbits seem to get by if they, too, are not eradicated!

Regards, RAB

PS the word i d i o t was 'asterisked out' in my previous post. I meant it in the context of the reply. No reference to any particular individual there, but they have to make their rules as a 'catch-all', or they leave themselves open to claims from the very small minority that are i d i o t s.
 
And I suppose you have never used a lawn mower or removed a weed?
How you can disagree with what I said I spray is beyond me. I said most of what I spray is knotweed not the Original Poster
 
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In the context of the thread, I'm afraid I have to disagree.

Veg,

That is what I said. What you may now claim personally (was 'we' in post #14, and is now 'I', btw) seems irrelevant.

If, in your reply you were, as I read it, referring to yourselves ('we', as you put it) as the whole group of local authorities sprayers. In that case, I do not believe you, and even if 'most' were knotweed that still leaves an awful lot that is not knotweed along with all the co-lateral casualties.

You, as a single entity, are much in the minority when the whole workforce of the local authorities is taken into account. I did not ask you about what vegetation you killed off.

RAB
 
They wont be spraying for long.
With all the Goverment cut backs the poor guy will probably be unemployed by August :(

probably the opposite, it's cheaper to kill vegetation on roadsides than to maintain it.
 
I really couldnt care less if you believe me or not you would still argue about it. The we I refered to was MY local authority not the one posted about at the start. Everyone on this planet is guilty of doing harm to some form of life, so if you want to start arguing about killing off forage for insects we can argue forever about it. I just stated the reasons for wearing PPE and that most authorities now use bee friendly sprays.
 
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"most authorities now use bee friendly sprays" - how can they be "bee friendly" if they kill off plants they'd visit? -
Quite frankly, I doubt anyone definitively knows what damage herbicides do directly to insects, but certainly they can damage humans and water life, so until it is researched and proven as safe, then extreme caution should be the rule.
 

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