I doubt I average spraying more than once a year and then I try to only spray late in the evening so the foliage is dry by morning. I don't use the Sevin dust. Even so, I haven't seen a honey bee around here in four or five years. Thought I saw one a couple years ago but wasn't sure. With no beekeepers in the area and all the development wiping out the natural hives, there just aren't any honey bees close. And we have precious few bumble bees. I've had pretty good success dusting the foliage and on the ground around the plant stem with Diatomaceous Earth for earwigs.
As far as the blooms, I can't get excited until the JB's are gone. I hate to even look at the dahlias when they're being chewed on. My first blooms are usually smaller and less impressive anyway. I more or less concede the early ones as a fact of life. If I sprayed every time I saw them, some years I'd be out there every day. My hopes are for mid-August and later.
We reached 95 degrees at 4 PM. When I looked outside I saw lot of pitiful, wilted dahlias. Hopefully, they'll recover by morning. They always have in the past.The forecast is showing 90's for the next two days. At 9 PM it was still 87. Good thing I gave them a good soaking early this morning.
