From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Nashville, TN

Last night I was visiting with some people in the local garden club. Several of them stated that they've noticed very few/no honey bees in their gardens this year. I've also noticed about a 90% decline in Honey bees in my garden in the last two years. Currently, it's primarily been the large Bumble bees and/or Carpenter Bees doing most of the pollinating here.

I had heard that there was a major problem with honey bee Mites several years ago. So I assume that may be what happened.

How are the Small honey bee populations in your area?

7/1/2006 7:03:45 AM

Minerva,ohio

How funny, I was just wondering the same thing myself...
I have been noticing nearly zero honey bee action at all, mainly it has been the big fuzzy bumble bees here also.
I'm not too much of a bee lover, but I do miss these little guys,Growing up my Grandparents made honey(they lived next door) and we had a yard full of dandelions and it never failed that we would be stung on our bare feet while playing outside,Owiee! Now times have definitly been hard on the honey bee, I hope they can recover, I sure like them better than the bumble bees and wasps and yellow-jackets ewwww!

7/1/2006 7:17:21 AM

The mites all but wiped out the population in Wisconsin over the last 20 years,,now there is a big business for "hives for hire" here.

Locally all the cranberry growers and potatoe farmers have them brought into this area for pollination purposes,,ironic since some of the spraying they did years back was a contributing factor in the native "wild" populations decline. In the farmers defense, the "insecticide suppliers" didn't have the foresite to see this problem coming back then.

Loggers now report all "honey trees" (very few statewide)to the DNR and they are doing research in those areas in an attempt to determine why they have survived there. To this point the thinking is that these are escapees from domestic hives.

Sad,,but true.

7/1/2006 7:23:22 AM

ENGLAND

http://www.napa.ufl.edu/98news/bees1.htm
And does anyone recognise one of the Authors of this paper.. http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~acarolog/beemite.htm
Yes, it's Glen Needham.
http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/beemites/

7/1/2006 10:47:18 AM

[email protected]

Ditto the bees here in CT. Varroa mites were responsible in the past. It seems worse this year but there has been no official word across my desk yet this year. The State's operating in a gas tax & casino driven cash surplus too....hmmmm...

7/1/2006 12:48:55 PM

Ca

They have been decimated by the mites here. Almost zero native honey bees. Lots of carpenenter and bumble bees though. Their populations seem to be way up here now without the honey bees around. They have a lot of hives/nests in my garden redwood boxes and walls.

7/1/2006 2:03:03 PM

San Luis Obispo, Ca.

There in my backyard!

7/1/2006 4:46:18 PM

Nashville, TN

Just finished watching a program on Bee keeping on RFDTV. Didn't here much about the mites - basically it was just a 'how to get started' type of show.

Did note that they said you could have a 'beginner colony' shipped to you for a reasonable price...

I've got this HUGE dead Sycamore in the tree line at the back of my property. Very full of holes and pretty hollow. I'm considering ordering one of these 'beginner colonies' and setting the box under this very suitable 'natural cavity'..

What do you all think? I'm not going to bother haresting and getting stung, etc... Just want to replenish the honey bees in this valley.

7/1/2006 5:39:25 PM

Berlin,mi.([email protected])

i noticed the same thing here . when i go out to the patch there's not a bee in sight this year.

7/1/2006 6:54:35 PM

Farmville, Virginia ([email protected])

I saw the first and only honey bee in my patch this morning. Bumble bees are abundant.

7/1/2006 11:08:38 PM

Little-TON - Colorado

Ditto

7/2/2006 12:26:10 AM

Picton,ON ([email protected])

I have noticed a similar situation here in this part of Ontario. I don't remember seeing a honey bee this year!
This could be serious to many fruit and vegtable growers.
John

7/2/2006 8:09:06 AM

Butler, Ohio

I've seen a few honey bees this year, but like young'n said, nothing like when I was a kid. I have alot of the white clovers in part of my yard so I still see a few of them anyways. I too have seen ALOT of bumblebees especially in our flower/pond garden. Mom & Dad Have a large blackberry/raspberry/elderberry patch at their place and we discovered a quite large hornets nest in a section of the Raspberries. I dont think hornets do much pollinating of anything, and they'd like to get rid of it cause they can't hardly pick berries without being chased by hornets.

7/2/2006 9:25:43 AM

Michigan

I've seen plenty here in Texas, have had to fight them off every pollination that I have done in fact! All of my male flowers are buzzing with them every morning. My Mom lives in Oklahoma and told me of a news story where a Great Dane died when he was attacked by a swarm of honey bees. They thought that the colony had been africanized, but upon testing, found them to be normal honey bees. I thought it was weird!

7/2/2006 10:23:01 AM

Wichita, KS

strange... I have only seen two, and one was an exhausted stray. I gave it some honey to energize it and it flew away. I thought the same thing; where are all the bees this year?

7/2/2006 6:20:12 PM

No Place Special

Same here, very few bees at all

7/2/2006 10:31:56 PM

Jackson Twp, Ohio

Mites at least in this area are a fairly large problem.

7/3/2006 12:34:34 PM

Ca

Well, about 4 days ago bees started showing up. Now I have a ton of them. It looks like a new wild hive has moved in near by. They look like wild bees to me. After two years with about zero bees, I guess this is a good sign for the bee population if they are not Killer Bees.

7/7/2006 6:41:14 PM

Montoursville, PA

If you are concerned about other plant pollinations I suggest you Google Up the words Mason Bee. Our family has been keeping Mason Bees, for longer than I am old. They can be purchsed and raised, on site now. They pollinate much better than any other bees. They do not bite sting or kick unless you force the issue. I know, of no one, that has been stung. I raise them or keep them as is the proper term, in coffee cans, on my back porch or pattio.
....Northern gardeners have, to hold them, in the fridge, for the two coldest months. A coffee can holds a gazillion.

If an insect could be a pet the Mason Bee would get a lot of votes.

7/7/2006 9:44:59 PM