Protecting Bees From Fungicide Applications Tuesday Jan 12th, 2021 The almond industry is always cognizant on keeping their big helper safe, which is the pollinating bee. Josette Lewis is Chief Scientific Officer of the Almond Board of California. She said fungicides are often needed due to the wet weather in the spring. And that's right at pollination season. “Fungicides are often needed because of the wet weather during Almond Bloom. And there's some easy management practices to apply fungicides safely,” said Lewis. “The first is to apply them at night. Bees are not active after the sun goes down and the temperature starts to drop. So, if you apply the fungicide at night, you allow sufficient time for that to dry. So that it's no longer a threat to the bees when they re-emerged from their hives in the morning.”