|
25 Jun 09 - 10:42 PM (#2664960) Subject: BS: The bees seem to be recovering... From: Little Hawk Good news here. The bees are making a comeback in my locality. Last year I saw one bee between the beginning of Spring and the onset of winter. ONE! Now I am seeing them in reasonable numbers...not as much as a decade ago...but a reasonable number of bees are buzzing around out there amongst the small flowers. I saw about 10 or 12 of them on the large flowering bush in the backyard and similar numbers amongst the clover. This is good. I was getting quite worried about it last year, but they seem to be recovering now. Perhaps the worst of the mysterious die-off is over. |
|
25 Jun 09 - 11:07 PM (#2664970) Subject: RE: BS: The bees seem to be recovering... From: Janie The die-off is/was a significant and acute problem. Varroa and tracheal mites are a greater long term problem. |
|
25 Jun 09 - 11:15 PM (#2664974) Subject: RE: BS: The bees seem to be recovering... From: Little Hawk No question about that. That's why I'm happy to see a lot more bees around here this year. |
|
25 Jun 09 - 11:23 PM (#2664977) Subject: RE: BS: The bees seem to be recovering... From: John on the Sunset Coast The bees are visiting our Red Apple ground cover, again, after an hiatus of a year. I'm hopeful that they'll come back stronger than ever. |
|
25 Jun 09 - 11:55 PM (#2664988) Subject: RE: BS: The bees seem to be recovering... From: Ebbie Do you know if they are the same species, LH? Not Africanized? |
|
26 Jun 09 - 12:12 AM (#2664994) Subject: RE: BS: The bees seem to be recovering... From: Little Hawk Well, I can't say for sure, but they don't seem at all aggressive. They look the same as before. |
|
26 Jun 09 - 12:41 AM (#2665008) Subject: RE: BS: The bees seem to be recovering... From: CarolC I saw quite a few bees around our yard and gardens in the springtime. Some of them seemed to be very territorial and would buzz around us when we went into certain parts of the yard. I haven't seen any bees at all in several weeks, though. I was wondering about that a few days ago. I also saw a lot of ladybugs earlier in the season, but I haven't seen any of them in a while either. Hope they're all ok. |
|
26 Jun 09 - 03:13 AM (#2665036) Subject: RE: BS: The bees seem to be recovering... From: akenaton Here in the West of Scotland, bumble bee numbers have increased dramatically of late....two different types large yellow and black stripes and black with tiny yellow stripes. These bees had been a rare sight for about five years, but now seem to be making a recovery. I noticed that a few bees seem unable to keep themselves airborne and fall back to the ground... even when assisted. Is this a symptom of the diseases mentioned by Janie? |
|
26 Jun 09 - 05:37 AM (#2665091) Subject: RE: BS: The bees seem to be recovering... From: Bryn Pugh I think it might well be. Varroa has decimated the honey bee population, and even bumbles aren't immune. The UK lost two of its species of native bumble bee last year. Extinct means for ever. |
|
26 Jun 09 - 06:11 AM (#2665107) Subject: RE: BS: The bees seem to be recovering... From: Penny S. We had a swarm here on Tuesday - from one of the two chimney colonies. I was on the phone, glanced out of the window and saw a few insects flying in an unusual way, then they doubled in number, and again, and soon the whole area of the front garden (between two lines of trees) was full of the whirling cloud of them. They looked at one of our trees and then settled in a sycamore over the road, far too high for any beekeeper to collect them. They were there overnight, and left early the next morning, but I don't know where they went, didn't see them go. While investigating keepers, I found out that some colony losses are being attributed to the use of insecticides on some nests, and subsequent robbing of contaminated honey by other colonies. (Robbing? Recycling, surely, if the nest is dead.) They won't have got the stuff from my wall next, fortunately, as it is sealed up now. Lots of bumbles on our brambles, and different ones on my sage by the front door. Penny |