Cotton/Bee Protection Area

PURPOSE: This rule states that all persons in possession of apiaries within the eradication zone or within one (1) mile of the eradication zone shall relocate apiaries out of the eradication zone during cotton bloom or take necessary action to protect bees and defines the policy used during the eradication program. (1) Beekeepers with apiaries located within a cotton/bee protection area of the eradication zone will be notified of impending spray applications. Upon notification beekeepers shall move apiaries out of the cotton/bee protection area in the eradication zone prior to June 30 of each year. Beekeepers who choose not to move prior to June 30 shall be advised to protect apiaries by confining bees as described in MU publication G7600. (A) Beekeepers not moving apiaries will be responsible for losses caused by bees foraging on treated cotton and must indicate on the apiary registration form that apiaries will not be removed from the cotton/bee protection area of the eradication zone by the specified date. (B) The area within each field planted to cotton and within one (1) mile of any cotton planted is designated as a cotton/bee protection area during the cotton bloom period. (C) The cotton bloom period, in any cotton field for the purposes of declaring bloom and label interpretation, shall be from July 1 until the first killing frost or defoliation of the cotton plants. (2) Pesticide applications made in conjunction with the boll weevil eradication program during the cotton blooming period shall follow the procedures specified in the current version of the Boll Weevil Eradication Program Honeybee Policy as designated by the Missouri Department of Agriculture. (3) Each beekeeper will be notified in advance of applications of pesticides in accordance with the Boll Weevil Eradication Program Honeybee Policy and shall file an agreed upon method of notification with registration form with how, when and where he/she can be contacted. (4) Each beekeeper with apiaries located within a cotton/bee protection area shall be notified at least twenty-four (24) hours in advance of spray applications in accordance with the Boll Weevil Eradication Honeybee Policy. AUTHORITY: section 263.505, RSMo 2000.* Emergency rule filed April 12, 2002, effective April 22, 2002, expired Jan. 30, 2003. Original rule filed April 12, 2002, effective Nov. 30, 2002. *Original authority: 263.505, RSMo 1995.