Pilot project to address honeybee-pesticide conundrum

Honeybees and pesticides are mortal enemies.  They are also among a farmer’s best friends.  ClemsonUniversity specialists are experimenting with a way to for them to get along.  They’ve established a pilot program for beekeepers and pesticide applicators to compare notes online to reduce accidental poisoning of honeybees and their hives.  Jennifer Tsuruda of Clemson Extension says about 70 beekeepers from across the state have signed up to take part in the voluntary program.  The pilot program uses a system similar to the one adopted last year to file mobile reports on plant nursery inspections directly—and immediately—from the nursery.  Improving bee health is essential to an aspect of agriculture that humans first cultivated more than four millennia ago.  Honeybees are valued not only for their honey and local pollination of crops, but as hired labor in other regions.