Bees will forage on what's abundant. If there is a good plentiful source of pollen or a big flow of nectar from certain plants or trees, they will take advantage of it. A bee will go out foraging and stick to one source of pollen or nectar. So if you see a bee working dandelions, she will stick to dandelions and not visit other flowers. Other bees from the same hive may be working a different flower. If you sit by a hive and watch, bees will often be bringing different colors of pollen in depending on what sources are available

I hope they're not all lost.

Apparently there is an insecticide that disorients them, which is being widely used.

I am extremely anxious about it. I haven't seen my lone bumblebee for a week now.

I can't believe how ungrateful the human animal can be to the other creatures that support it on this planet. The callousness of promoting an insecticide that will wipe out bee colonies makes me ill.

But then, they are still trying to addict young humans to tobacco, so why should we expect better treatment for our precious bees? :(

Time to call our congressmen, though. Otherwise, by the end of summer, we will all be looking forward to starving.

Honeybees are not native, get over it. There are still lots around. Tons of butterflies and birds here in North Carolina. You people need to chill out.

Feral bees may not be doing as well with the varroa mites, but the colonies that survive will be stronger and pass on resistant genetics. Many beekeepers are doing the same, letting natural selection weed out weak colonies and making splits from strong colonies . Here in the berkshires there are quite a few small scale beekeepers. In addition to the 6 hives I have in my yard there are 2 other beeks with 10 or so hives within a mile of here, plus all of our other hives in different locations within a fifteen mile radius. It's up to the locals everywhere to put words into action and go out and start a hive or two

I guess I am being lucky. Even though here in southern TN we are also in a drought, I still have bees, butterflies, and birds. I've been watering my raised vegetable beds and flowers, but there are lots of bees out on the clover that's surviving, too.

I hope some bees will show up for you soon. My bee balm is not yet blooming. And the Easter freeze set back a lot of the shrubs that attract bees.

Becky

"""Posted by jimnc13 z6NC (My Page) on Thu, May 31, 07 at 17:14

Honeybees are not native, get over it. There are still lots around. Tons of butterflies and birds here in North Carolina. You people need to chill out """"

I think you need a little education:

https://www.agnic.org/partners/nal/news/mystery-illness-devastates-honeybee-colonies

Mystery Illness Devastates Honeybee ColoniesA recent article from NewScientist magazine reports on the losses of honebee colonies experienced by commercial beekeepers in a number of states within the United States. Experts are investigating the causes behind the declines, refering to "colony collapse disorder" (CCD). Twenty-two states have reported on the declines; inquiry into the matter is intensifying as we learn that certain, specific, beekeepers are reporting this as a problem dating back over the past two years. It goes without saying that this is a matter of signifigance; honeybees are important sources of pollination for fruits and nuts; the article comments upon this as well.

A mysterious illness is devastating honeybee populations across the US from California to Florida, claiming up to 80% of colonies in some areas. The losses of honeybees could disrupt the pollination of food crops, researchers warn.

Beekeepers are finding once-healthy colonies abandoned just a few days later, says Jerry Bromenshank, at the University of Montana at Missoula and Bee Alert Technology, a company monitoring the problem: "In most cases the only one left is the queen, along with a few young bees."

The absence of dead bees makes it difficult to know what ails them and where they have gone. Furthermore, experts cannot track the spread of the mysterious illness. "The problem is that it strikes out of the blue," says Bromenshank.

At a loss for an explanation, researchers have referred to the honeybee decline as "colony collapse disorder". Reports of the problem have intensified in recent weeks and spanned 22 states, but some beekeepers say that they began seeing their colonies decline almost two years ago.

Almonds and applesResearchers say colony collapse disorder might be a re-emergence of a similarly mysterious illness that struck US honeybees in the 1960s. Experts never pinpointed the cause behind that previous bee crisis, according to Bromenshank. He notes that in light of this some people have jokingly termed the problem the "disappearing-disappearing illness".

But beekeepers and farmers see no humour in the potential economic costs of drastic honeybee decline. Almond crops are immediately vulnerable because they rely on honeybee pollination at this time of year. And the insect decline could potentially affect other crops later in the year, such as apples and blueberries.

Bromenshank speculates that dry conditions in the autumn reduced the natural food supply of the honeybees, making them more vulnerable to some sort of virus such as deformed wing virus  or fungal infection. He notes that the abandoned colonies are not repopulated by other honeybees or insects for at least a few weeks. This, he says, is consistent with the presence of toxic fungal residues from the dying bees that repel other insects from re-inhabiting the colony.

Other scientists have tentatively blamed the problem on pesticides or chemicals specifically designed to control mites in bee colonies.

For more information on this, go to the web site.

http://environment.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn11183

If you want, there are about 10,000 other web sites that refute what you think. Chilling out is not what is needed. Did you get stung once or something?

TonybeeGuy+ others,

Thanks for all the replies, yeah I am happy with my wasps and bumble bees' The bumble bee's last year in my garden were strong on the anise hyssop. This year they've moved to my gladiolus, and bee balm. Strangely they are slow to adapt to my many blooming Echinacea plants ( 24+)
As long as I have some sort of bees! I need the pollination.

I've been watching my squash closely, I'm all ready to self pollinate because of these lack of bees. But they won't flower. Guess that's the joy of squash, Japanese Futsu to be exact. It's a genetically altered strain I guess... not much info on the web about where it came from. But it grows strong, and I've had trifoliate plants produced with special traits shown. Since I water and watch daily, I think I'll catch them however they do.

Since I started too late this year, it's going to be next year that I order bees and lady bugs. because they ARE essential to a gardener, and sometimes you have to bring them in.
I've seen my lack of pollination, and I mean to change it.

Here's the low down. Since the government found out that they could produce self pollinating super plants for way cheaper than traditional open pollinated strains, they've tired to do away with the honey bees BY THE Underground Genetics Front.

No bee's is OK, because the government sells the SUPER STRAIN.
Farmers must apply to them, and become ORGANIC. They must sell out to the GOVERNMENT! and if you don't buy it, you don't survive.

Yet all the while airplanes fly over leaving jet fuel deposits into our rainwater and fluoride through the taps IN OUR WATER!?

!FREE EARTH!

Why does this board always attract the wierdos and paranoids? If you want real honest HONEY BEE information and not a bunch of loony stuff, try Beesource.com. http://www.beesource.com/forums/index.php

i dont think u have to bee that up set that there r lack of bees. check out this link here http://bugguide.net/node/view/7997/bgimage
im in north hollywood and i always see these guys in my yard from 11-4pm. i just think they r evolving and beecoming stronger. so dont u worry

lancetg

I have a feeling we should let this thread die a quiet death.