Fewer bees in my garden

[farmgal]

Each year less and less bees. This year they are almost non existent. Today checked the garden a few times, only 1 bee. I see them here and there in my lawn on the clover but I used to have dozens at any given time in the garden. Seemed we had a little more earlier in the season but they are gone like something's killed them over the summer.

I don't spray chemicals. I'm bordering organic farm lands for about 3 years they've gone "organic". Im far from cities and not many big commercial growers here just small nursery type and hay or dairy. Local bee farmers are losing hives like crazy.

Fertilities low also. Peas have many empty/ almost empty pods. I'm quite worried at this point.

Is anyone else seeing this?

[lazyBum]

I just moved out of town. It's the first time I've seen honey bees in a long time. Still not very many of them. I need to fix the window in the barn. They find their way in but can't find their way out and die in there.

[Danaus29]

We had a bunch. There was a bee tree in the area. Family who owned the tree wanted it gone, tree was rotted in the middle and dying. Don't know if they killed the bees or got someone to get them. But bees are few and far between now. I would set up a hive but there is too much county red tape which takes too much green paper to get through the red tape.

[Jim-mi]

I feel fortunate that a friend called and wanted to know if I would take some hives.
Very happy to have 20 hives out back right now.
I will get 24 lbs of honey for this......
I use a big dollup of honey every day in my oatmeal.

Both the guys were not overly concerned about loosing bees....

[Yvonne's hubby]

Originally Posted by farmgal

Each year less and less bees. This year they are almost non existent. Today checked the garden a few times, only 1 bee. I see them here and there in my lawn on the clover but I used to have dozens at any given time in the garden. Seemed we had a little more earlier in the season but they are gone like something's killed them over the summer.

I don't spray chemicals. I'm bordering organic farm lands for about 3 years they've gone "organic". Im far from cities and not many big commercial growers here just small nursery type and hay or dairy. Local bee farmers are losing hives like crazy.

Fertilities low also. Peas have many empty/ almost empty pods. I'm quite worried at this point.

Is anyone else seeing this?

yep, I havent seen a honeybee in at least two years around our farm and my garden is suffering because of it. very little pollination going on.

[COSunflower]

Bees are very scarce here also. I think I've only actually seen a couple all summer!!! Maybe it's a good thing that I don't have a garden this year!

[geo in mi]

Originally Posted by farmgal

Each year less and less bees. This year they are almost non existent. Today checked the garden a few times, only 1 bee. I see them here and there in my lawn on the clover but I used to have dozens at any given time in the garden. Seemed we had a little more earlier in the season but they are gone like something's killed them over the summer.

I don't spray chemicals. I'm bordering organic farm lands for about 3 years they've gone "organic". Im far from cities and not many big commercial growers here just small nursery type and hay or dairy. Local bee farmers are losing hives like crazy.

Fertilities low also. Peas have many empty/ almost empty pods. I'm quite worried at this point.

Is anyone else seeing this?

The lack of pea formation in the pods can't be blamed on the lack of bees. Peas are self-pollinating........ Now, squash and cucumbers are another matter, since they rely on some sort of direct, mechanical transfer of pollen: but there are other pollinators such as bumblebees, solitary bees, and other insects. In fact, you can do the job yourself.

If anyone is interested in the subject of pollination, here's a prety good general guide to pollination and the garden food vegetables that don't require bees. http://www.growgreatvegetables.com/p...llination.html

geo

[7thswan]

We also have very few honey bees. There is a small bee that is pollinating and I even rescued a bumblebee from a water trough yesterday. Dh is interested in getting some hives, If he dosen't, I might have to go back to hand pollinateing, like I did before I planted the thousands of flowers I have. I don't think I should takel hives myself as I am alergic to honey bees.

[MichaelK!]

This post has an "end of the world" tone to it. I think you are simply projecting your own fears onto what you are trying to observe.

The loss of bee populations is almost completely related to the falsification of agricultural pesticide certifications where farmers were deceived into believing what they were spraying was safe. In suburban areas like mine where no agricultural spraying was being conducted, there never was any decline. The plants in my own front yard have always had an abundance of bees, and they are still there this season.

Peas fix nitrogen, but nitrogen is only one of the many nutrients that plants require. Are their leaves bright dark green or are they yellowish? Do you see purple coloring, or green veins on a yellow background? Those are phosphorus and metal deficiences respectively. What have you done in the past to enrich your soil? Did you expect the peas to do it themselves? Did you ever perform an analysis?

[k9]

I have kept bees for several years, and it is difficult, the past two years my mega farm neighbor has sprayed his corn for smut using a crop duster. Right after the first time both of my hives declined and they failed last year. This year I bought two nucs for $300 and they are off to a strong start, Mon the crop duster sprayed again, Wed afternoon I find piles of dead bees outside my hive. The chemical that is killing those bees is going into the food chain. There are many morons too ignorant to connect those dots.

[JoePa]

I believe if we knew what the farmers were using to spray their crops we all would be planting our own food - this is a true story - I was in a barber shop with my kids one time - we were all getting hair cuts - some potato farmer was sitting in the chair and was talking about spraying his potato crop - he said that he uses a systemic spray on his potatoes - for those who don't know - this type of spray is absorbed by the roots of a plant and is absorbed by the whole plant - it is a poison that gets into the plants system and kills any bugs that eat the plant - I remember the barber telling the farmer that he wouldn't eat any potatoes from that farmer - the farmer said that the poison didn't get into the potato - well that's a lot of BS - it gets into the whole plant and we eat this stuff and don't even know it - no wonder there is so much cancer around -

[light rain]

I have seen less than 3 honey bees per year for about the last 10 years. This year I have seen less than 50 bumble bees. These are the canaries in the mines...

[k9]

Where have the Humming Birds gone?

[Ziptie]

Haven't seen much bee's around here either. One of our pastures is covered in clover I thought I would see honey bee's all over the place..but nada.

Did finally see the first bumble bee yesterday.

[Cindy in PA]

My yard is full of honey & bumble bees for the first time in years. Past couple years I was lucky to see 1-2 honey bees. My entire yard has been taken over with clover, it looks like a pasture! I love seeing the bees, but my 7 month old puppy wasn't listing to leave it 2 weeks ago & ended up with an allergic reaction. Still glad to see the bees.

[7thswan]

I too am surrounded by farmers, mostly corn, alfala,soybeans,sugar beets. Chemicals abound except this peice of land. The bees I usally see are on the clover in my grass. We do have Hummers and Balitmore Orials , I feed them, they nest here.My neighbor had 2 hives for 1 year,not sure what happened but they are gone. There is supposed to be a disease that is killing bees.

[arnie]

Why not set up a hive of your own and get your own bees . bee keeping is great and the rewards are "SWEET"

[KIT.S]

My neighbors had 2 old hives filled with voluntary swarms this summer, and when we were clearing old wood to put in a new fence, my son tore the bark off a tree that had been down for years. Under the bark was a hollow full of bumble bees and their larva! I was surprised as I thought they were solitary, but there were quite a few, and were still there several days later when I took photos. Don't have the camera with me, but was glad to see them.

Orchardist friend says they had to add levels to their bee boxes, as they were making so much honey this year that they ran out of room for their broods.
Kit

[light rain]

I wonder what are the factors that influence the different concentrations of bees across America. Weather, pesticides, fungicides, available food, and genetic lines? Why good in one area and lousy in another area?

[Fennick]

Originally Posted by light rain

I wonder what are the factors that influence the different concentrations of bees across America. Weather, pesticides, fungicides, available food, and genetic lines? Why good in one area and lousy in another area?

It would be interesting to see if anyone has done recent studies on common factors and locations where honey bees are thriving and where they're declining.