I was picking clover flowers to make tea today alongside our township garden, and also saw no bees.

So far this summer I have seen only some tiny insects that I think are native bees, and one huge bumblebee that I think nests in my yard.

I fear for it, because quite a few of my neighbors spray poison about fairly indiscriminately to have green lawns. I saw it wandering up the street the other day after Iris in neighbors' gardens. I haven't seen it since.

When our dandelions first came out I was anxious to get some pictures of bees gathering pollen or nectar but didn't see any. I have 4 hives in the yard. I just took a while before the flowers started to produce pollen, then the bees started working them. Mersiepoo, maybe you should get a hive?

We have neighbors that have them (or at least HAD them, not sure if theirs got killed off or not as we don't talk to them-the neighbors, not the bees, ha ha!). I'd love to get some bee hives, but we are having some serious financial problems now and can't afford them, unfortunately. Hopefully in a few years I can save up for them. :)

I even planted agastache for the bees and we have lots of bee balm and other flowers that bees like.

This is nothing new. There have been no bees to speak of for nearly a generation. While this may be a more recent phenomenon for you, it's awfully typical for a large part of North America.

two decades of mites will do this.

So far this year I have not seen a honey bee or a bumble bee. Granted I don't have a large flower garden but I do have enough perennials that have attracted bees in the past. I have lived in central minnesota all my life and have watched nature. This is very unusual and alarming for me.

Anyone remember 'Silent Spring'?

The reason I got into beekeeping nearly a decade ago is when I experienced exactly what you're seeing now.