Presenting Author: Mason Newark, Field Technical Manager, Bee Vectoring Technolog, Christiansburg, VA, USA
Growers face many challenges when it comes to managing diseases during bloom, when crops are especially susceptible to attack by pathogens. Current practices of bloom sprays are costly, inefficient, and may miss unopened blooms between sprays. Bee Vectoring Technology (BVT) has developed a system that harnesses the existing activity of commercial pollinators by leveraging entomovectoring. The system employs patented inoculum dispensers in which commercial honeybees or bumblebees pick up our product, VectoriteTM with CR-7, and subequently deliver it directly to the blooms in the crop. This process uses far less product for treating blooms (about 5 grams per acre) compared to conventional bloom sprays. Entomovectoring also uses no heavy machinery or water while minimizing off-target movement into environmentally sensitive areas.