It's very toxic, and used on flowering cucumber plants, it will certainly kill your pollinating bees.

My uncle uses it and is very organic but sometimes bugs take over control. What he does since its very toxic is dilutes it I am not sure the ratio but its more water then the sevin. He has great luck the past 2 seasons with it. My FIL is all organic and this year used lady bugs with excellent success.

One web page says it is moderately toxic to mammals and it does kill honey bees and other insects.

Last year I lost cukes and squash to cucumber beetles. Since I planted different varieties I noticed that some varieties didn't seem to be bothered by striped cucumber beetles. i.e. zucchini romanesquo. Squash bugs followed the cuke beetles. I replanted the winter squash only to lose some beautiful squash to gnawing critters.

I am trying not to use any pesticides. So in addition to growing varieties that don't seem to be bother much, this year we kept the zucchini bed under a fabric low tunnel until almost 4th of July (I'm in NH) and the plants were getting huge. I also use this tunnel in the fall to protect a late planting of bush beans. I did find a couple of striped cucumber beetles. They were frequently spending the mornings inside the female blossoms. The squash bugs have started so I have been going out in the morning to scrape eggs into a bowl of soapy water.

I also grew some cucumber plants inside and put them out as young plants with some marigolds which are reputed to repel cucumber beetles. I still lost a couple of plants but I'm not sure which varieties. The rest of the little patch is doing fine and we are eating cucumbers.

This year's winter squash were planted in a new area on the other side of the house from the veggie garden. I thought maybe the bugs wouldn't find it this year. The seeds were planted late but look like they are doing fine. I did find a couple of beetles but no egg masses .... yet.

I'm trying to keep to as organic a veggie garden as I possibly can!

Then Sevin is NOT something you would want to use.

Sevin is a very hotly debated insecticide so if you choose to use it please take the time to read and follow the label directions very carefully and please time the applications so that the least amount of damage is done to all the beneficial insects.

Check out all these discussions about it and draw your own conclusions.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Sevin discussions

lizbeth, you should really educate yourself about garden pesticides BEFORE you buy them. It's so easy to look things up on the computer these days. Do you know how to do a quick search for something like that? I'd be happy to help you.

The active ingredient in Sevin, carbaryl, is very toxic to a wide variety of animals...from insects to humans. In humans, it acts as a cholinesterase inhibitor, which is something to be strictly avoided. The EPA has determined it to be a very possible carcinogen, as well.

Because it is so deadly to bees, you must not use it in your flowers. And it is also one of the chemicals known to be deadly to earthworms, if that matters to you.

Another side effect of using Sevin is that it is so effective in killing insects that the beneficial species are also wiped out. That means that the pests can come back with a vengeance...which has been documented. Spider mites, especially.

Anyway, be an informed consumer about everything! And when it comes to the pesticides you consider using in your vegetable garden, especially so. Please email me if I can be of any help.

I use it when I have to for potato bugs.

When I use it I use enough to get the job done, not repeated applications.

In the garden I used it on the wasps, bees and other insects have returned.

Never have to rely on it for a good garden.

I grow my own veggies so I don't have to eat chemical laden ones. I think you are detroying the reason to garden. Handpicking isn't easy, but it works. You have to be diligent. There is a certain satifaction about bug killing by hand. Gloves help some.

If you must use Sevin...use a liquid type application...whether you buy it that way or make it yourself. It's a "safer" way to apply it for everything in the environment (including humans). It's still pretty toxic stuff even if it's mild to humans compared to other strong pesticides.

I avoid it, myself.

Cucumber beetles and bees mostly go for the blossoms in plants like cucumbers, cantaloupe, pumpkins, and the like. If you have a real need for something like Sevin, use the spray very sparingly on just a few of the leaf tops at dusk. Cucumber beetles will likely land on those leaves and die.

It goes without saying I hope, that blossoms would never be treated. I have seen the time that cucumber beetles were eating up newly sprouted or transplanted melons or squash and I feel it would be better to kill off the crop [of beetles] then [long before blossoms] than using 20 times as much on the second hatch 6 weeks later.

There are things like glads that can be ruined by thrips that cannot be eliminated by hand.

Thanks so much for all the replies and concerns about using this product! After reading all the replies and other replies on other forums and other threads in here, I decided NOT to use is, as I wish to keep my gardens as organic as possible!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!