Crop Pest
Management

Crop Best Practices

The Coalition develops crop- and product-specific Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices and messaging to improve bee and pollinator safety.

We also promote communication and understanding among stakeholders to raise awareness of crop pest management issues for bee health, disseminate existing information, create a network to address emerging issues in a collaborative environment; and support region- and crop-specific best management practices (BMPs).

Best Management Practices Guides

01. Apple

Apples are an important pollinator-dependent crop grown for commercial production on 295,000 acres in the United States. Pollinator Best Management Practices for Apples provides guidance for U.S. growers and regulators on pollinator protection in orchards.

View Apple BMP Guide

02. Canola

Canola is an ideal food source for honey bees, and studies show that honey bees can, in some circumstances, benefit canola yields. Adopting bee-friendly canola farming practices benefits both canola growers and beekeepers. The U.S. Canola Association worked with a broad array of Honey Bee Health Coalition members, stakeholders, and growers to develop best management practices to protect honey bees and other pollinators in and around canola fields.

View Canola BMP Guide

03. Corn

Field corn is grown on more acres than any other crop in the U.S. and the practices corn farmers use can affect honey bee health. The National Corn Growers Association worked with a broad array of Honey Bee Health Coalition members, stakeholders, and growers to develop best management practices to help protect honey bees and other pollinators in and around corn fields.

View Corn BMP Guide

04. Soybeans

Soybeans are one of the most widely farmed and produced crops throughout North America and the world. The practices soybean farmer utilize can affect honey bee health. Given this, the Honey Bee Health Coalition has worked with a broad array of its members and stakeholders to develop best management practices to help protect honey bees and other pollinators in and around soybean fields.

View Soy BMP Guide

05. Consultant, advisor, applicator training

The Honey Bee Health Coalition, in partnership with the National Pesticide Safety Education Center (NPSEC), has developed an education module targeted specifically for pesticide applicators, advisors and crop consultants.

The module can be found on the NPSEC website

Additional Resources

Beyond our industry-standard best management practices guides, the Honey Bee Health Coalition has also developed pesticide applicator training tools, incidental pesticide exposure reporting guides, and other tools and resources for both growers and beekeepers.

Additional resources

01. Managed Pollinator Protection Plan (MP3) Resources

Managed pollinator protection plans (MP3) are an effective means of increasing communication between stakeholders and mitigating acute exposures of bees to pesticides. MP3s, encouraged by a recent national strategy, help promote increased communication between key stakeholders and mitigate acute exposures of bees to pesticides.

Managed Pollinator Protection Plan (MP3) Resources

02. Incident reporting guide

Identify and implement Coalition actions to promote and improve beekeeper incident reporting regarding crop pest management-related bee health incidents. The Coalition also has called for comprehensive, risk based assessments to understand factors that may impact acute losses and/or chronic effects.

Click here to access the Incident Reporting Guide

03. Grower/beekeeper communication tools

Proactive communication between growers, applicators and beekeepers is essential to protect honey bees from unintended pesticide exposure.

Click here to view tools