OK, I think there may be something to this disappearing honeybees thing....

[marmar]

Normally at this time of the year, in southeast Michigan anyway, yellow BEES (for the didactically obsessed) are everywhere, in kind of a nutty frenzy. This year, I've barely noticed any.

Anyone else noticing a dearth of bees?

[valerief]

1. Everyone has. Monsanto killed them all. nt

[marmar]

3. I wouldn't be surprised....Monsanto is concentrated evil disguised as a corporation.

n/t

[LiberalEsto]

13. MonSATAN nt

[omega minimo]

24. turns out bees are "factory farmed" like meat animals and diversity is key to not losing them

[Parche]

2. Just Boo Bees

:hide: :hi:

[valerief]

5. LOL! They're not Monsanto. They're Dow-Corning. nt

[MJW]

4. No bees here either

No monarch butterflies either , although I have plants in my yard to attract them .I also have not noticed as many dragon flies.

sad and scary

[Jane Austin]

6. They're here!

Hanging around the dogs' wading pool and around their water buckets.

Couple of them have gotten stung on the face. :(

[lonestarnot]

7. Nope none!

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

8. I Just Brought That Up Yesterday; Wondering If It's More Than Honeybees.

Every summer, and I mean EVERY summer, yellow jackets are a nuisance, albeit usually a small one. I will ALWAYS notice them throughout the summer; whether it be when I'm smoking a cig, with the kids at the park, taking a walk somewhere, hanging out in the backyard or someone else's backyard, walking out of work or whatever. I will always have dozens of moments throughout the summer where I'm aware there's a bee buzzin around me or those around me, following me, or just annoying me; while hoping I don't get stung.

This year? Not one. Not one moment. Not one incident where I was in the immediate vicinity of a stinging be that I had to be aware of its presence. Not one. Can't believe it, and it definitely makes you wonder.

[omega minimo]

23. maybe............

yer not as sweet as ya usedta bee

:yoiks: :evilgrin: :hug:

[muffin1]

9. VERY few in southern Virginia n/t

[seabeyond]

10. wasps. i havent seen the wasps this year. didnt even think about it. BUT

my friends yard is FULL of bees in a hedge she has around her drive.

[sandyj999]

11. I'm where you are and I haven't seen any and usually they are a problem. n/t

[madokie]

12. No bees here all summer

and our garden didn't do flip this year either

[SmokingJacket]

14. We have tons of bees this year.

I have a wild hive on my property. My tree guy said they seem to be resurgent in our area.

Insects are pretty hardy. They might disappear for a while, but they'll come back eventually. I think there are more pressing things to panic about, especially considering honeybees aren't native to the US.

[colorado thinker]

15. No, I have bees all over my flowers this summer -

More than I've seen in a long time. Maybe they all came to Colorado for the summer.

Oh, and yellowjackets are wasps . . . not bees.:shrug:

[marmar]

17. Fine, yellowish honeybees. Jee-zus.....

:eyes:

[colorado thinker]

29. LOL!

While I'm sure yellowjackets have some vital role to play in pollination, I for one wouldn't be sorry to never see another one of them again. Unlike bees (except for Africanized) those damn wasps are MEAN and can sting you over and over again (bees die after they sting). Awful creatures.

[Wednesdays]

16. We've had fruit on our peach trees every year

For the first time, this year there's no fruit. Don't know if there's a connection, but it wouldn't surprise me a bit.

[dysfunctional press]

18. we've got peaches on ours.

but i've been seeing a lot more bumblebees than honeybees myself.

[dixiegrrrrl]

19. very few....had lots last year

90 miles north of Pensacola. Rural setting.
Lots of various wasps and little nectar insects, lots of butterflies, not even the bigger
"news" bees ( sorta like mason bees) and no yellow bees. Same amount of flowers.

And strangely, everyone around has had corn tassling problems this year. Bees have nothing to do with that, but very strange so many folks here are reporting the same problem.

[Sal Minella]

21. Do you mean the corn didn't tassel out?

[dixiegrrrrl]

30. yes

last year good crop.
This year, few tassles, esp. the bottom ones, very few ears developed.

[BrotherBuzz]

20. The honeybee population in my area is strong, so are the solo bee and cutter bee...

populations. I was a beekeeper for many years and find I still keep an active eye on the insect populations in our area. I also communicate with active beekeepers and orchard men to understand what is really happening. The only real problems I see are with the domestic honeybee colonies that have been over breed from tired crappy old stock. The feral populations are very strong. I keep telling my beekeeper friends to start collecting feral colonies and breed queens from that stock and dump the crappy mass produced queens and queen cells they have been using for years because that genetic pool is just plain tired and lacks vigor.

Yellowjackets? Haven't seen many of those and I have no regrets because I have been viscously attacked by those agents of the devil and hate them. I believe they were republicans in a previous life.

[omega minimo]

22. google "native pollinators"

http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/nativebee.html

lots of info on local pollinators filling in for missing honeybees and how to garden to attract them.

and it's fun!

:thumbsup:

[tannybogus]

25. It's a big problem!

No bees. No pollination.
Also, frogs are disappearing.
Weird and scarey!:yoiks:

[tigereye]

26. I saw bumble bees, some honeybees, wasps, yellow jackets and butterflies

this summer. More than I have seen for a while. Lots in the garden.

They seem to have taken a powder since it's been so dry the last few weeks - but there were no shortage of them here in Western PA prior to that.

[MasonJar]

27. I have seen no honeybees and usually they are all over my flowers.

I have some butterflies, some bumble bees and even many bugs (ugh! they bite), but zero honeybees. It is sad and scary.

[Maine-ah]

28. my whole yard has been full of bees, butterflies, dragon flies ect..

[Kitty Herder]

31. I've hardly seen any honey bees.

The flower garden in front of my house is usually full of them. Now there's nary a buzz.

[romulusnr]

32. they must all be in my yard

they're all over the place, pollinating every single lady-slipper (or whatever these flowers are) repeatedly for months now.