Fewer bees in my garden

Talked with my "bee" friend today.
He said the chemical criminals assured the farmers that the pesticide chemical soup would not kill "a" bee.
But when you add up the tiny "specs" from 100,000 bees it becomes a very large dose.
He says it gets into and badly effects the bees "wax"..............

So keep on America spraying / using all those monster chemical soups . . . .you who do are killing everything...........

We have plenty of the Hummers out here. I feed them each Summer . Right now they are sucking up a bit over a Gallon a day... close to 5 quarts.
We have quite a few of them around, most days.

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Honeybees aren't native to North America. There are some 400+ species of native bees and small pollinators . Providing habitat for them and encouraging their presence is a healthier long term strategy for anyone's land and crops than relying on non native honeybees which in many cases require a lot of outside inputs to remain successful. Cranberry growers here in Wisconsin are starting to experiment with wild flower and other diverse plantings around their bogs in part to try to mitigate the cost of importing hives.


As for hummers. They were late getting here this year but empty the feeders every couple of days and have provided many hours of viewing pleasure for us and the kitty.

I saw this article yesterday:
http://time.com/559/the-plight-of-the-honeybee/

Yesterday I lifted a tarp edge, under it was a bumblebee nest, they did not get disturbed. They are also smaller than the ones I usally see. Covered them back up and will let them alone.

Here we all have a very bad cucumber beetle issue. It attacks every vine type produce. I really need my winter squash. But it can decimate it at times. This is the first year made it this long in years. But it's also the 4th year they didn't plant corn next to me. (Unfortunately they are again this year) Cucumber beetle infestations (as well as other infestations) they say, are a result of mono crops of things like corn. The neighbors raised corn for probably well over 30 years.

I think we need to get back to nature. No constant mono crops etc. Everyone's actions affects others. I'm not into making a bunch of laws but I sure wish people cared less for money and more for the future of their descendants. I like spots on my apples and yellow fatted beef.


Thanks for posting everyone.

Well, I don't speek with the farmers arround here about what they spray, but I know they do because the tractors outfitted with sprayers drive past my house. Some days it is as busy as a main road-the dust inside this house speeks the truth.I bet my Dh knows tho. Even when we go to neighboring partys people talk about their tomato patch, that's when I hear about all the "stuff' they spray. Truth be told, I don't even want to fill my head with all the chemical info-I just stay away from all of it. I know for a fact that when I use compost and keep my plants healthy , they are far more resistant to "problems". Manure/Compost tea helps a great deal to keep bugs away, I have personaly noticed. The one thing that does get sprayed arround here by the County is mosqito fog, they go down the road during the night.

Farmgal, I drive past the acres of corn and wheat and they are beautiful! Then I wonder what chemicals have been purchased and applied to get them to that stage. When you think about the chemicals, medicines, artificial sweeteners that have become a part of all our lives a person should question their safety and side effects. True, many of the these have make productivity increase, made survival odds for some increase and generated lots of income for some. But, did this not also come with negative effects on other groups?

I have been in repeated conversations with a person I think highly of and respect their wisdom. I am in my 60's and this person is in their 30's. I stated and whole heartedly believe that autism was almost non existent 55 yrs. ago. This person believes that autism was always here and just not recognized or that children were sent away to live in institutions.

Yes, there were children born with neurological problems but that was rare in the farming community that I grew up in. I think a lot of times it was the use of forceps but I could be wrong. The people I knew back then came from different economic backgrounds, different ethnic and lifestyles situations. If a child was sent to an institutional home at 2 or 3 yrs. old I would have been aware of it. People talk and back in that time period I could sit by my parents phone sometimes and hear conversations with the receiver sitting down in the cradle.

Something or multiple things have come into our environment that is affecting the health of our children. I look at the new additions to chemical options and I wonder how long it will take for the truth to come out. I am not saying throw out all chemicals but I am saying people deserve the whole truth of their influences on our lives.

Everyone should read:

Fruitless Fall: The Collapse of the Honey Bee and the Coming Agricultural Crisis

One can find it at almost any library.

It talks about many of the things contributing to the problem, and offers some ways to access healthy bees, and keep them healthy, especially if one lives in a rural area with a limited amount of pesticide being sprayed.

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Moving to that big black hole in the night satellite photo. (also the hole in cell phone coverage )

Not as many bees this year, we had a bee tree down in the field, I went down in spring to check on them and they are gone, checked for honey and it is gone too. So they didn't die out they must have moved, I've seen a few but not as many as last year. I noticed for several years now most pollination in the garden is done by other bees and insects. I was watching butterflies feasting on nectar of broccoli flowers and radish flowers and figuring they were pollinating too.

I haven't seen a honeybee here in years, but the bumblebees are still hanging on. Wish I could say the same for fireflies, hummingbirds, bats, and several other creatures that have disappeared over recent years.

Our firefly, bat and hummingbird populations are doing well here but our toad, tree frog and spring peepers have really declined in the last 10 yrs. or so. I miss the peepers music.

It use to be on a rainy night the roads were covered in toads and earthworms but not anymore, as far as I can tell.

Just noticed today bees on some milkweed flowers near my garden - bees really flock to these flowers! Milkweed is not generally found in our clay soil, but came to us via a truck full of sand. The remains of the sand pile is next to the garden. Get some milkweed going near your garden and you might see more bees.

I also noted some bees in my garden as well, but not as many as in the milkweed.

We do not live in a heavy agricultural area. Some hay fields here and there mostly for hobby farmers.

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I'm with KIT.S, there's plenty of bees in Oregon outside Bandon. I don't know why they skipped COSunflower's house but they shipped all bees to Oregon IMHO. Lots of those small bumble bees and now the neighbor put up about 10 hives beside my pasture. Too many honey bees. I'll rant, they're kind of territorial and they'll buzz rapidly around your head (it's mostly done by the small bumble bees but the honey bees seem to, also).

They like white and yellow clover and blackberry flowers. While I'm trying to get rid of the thistle, bees don't like that. Bees like thistle flower, too.

I'm in salmon spawning country so there's very little pesticide spraying, mostly timber, beef cows, and organic dairies. So, the government doesn't let you kill anything (well, except deer and mosquitoes). No wait, you can't kill mosquitoes, either. http://theworldlink.com/news/local/p...9bb2963f4.html


So, if you want to know where all the honeybees are located, they're in Oregon!!!

Yes, recent studies have been done. The general consensus is that a variety of factors effect bee die-off. Stress, mites, bacteria and weather account for most deaths.
If you want to believe insecticides are major factors, then that is what is real to you.
In reality, the massive use of GMO Corn has reduced overall pesticide use in rural areas.
In areas that have extensive orchards, insecticide use could be reduced if insect pest "safe harbors" could be eliminated. Those "safe harbors" are untended fruit trees and those grown by people that tolerate insect damage.
The use of GMO corn and soybeans has reduced weeds. Perhaps the reduction of weeds has eliminated feed sources for bees?
In Michigan, last winter's relentless cold led to the starvation of many honey bees. Traditionally, there are a few winter days that warm to above 30 F. Bees utilize this time to feed and housekeep. Just didn't happen in many areas.
Feel free to blame it on your favorite whipping boy. It's the government's fault. It is something Big Ag is doing. It is because of Global Warming. GMO is the cause. Chemical fertilizers are killing bees. Herbicides are killing bees. George Bush is killing bees. Zoning and HOA is killing bees.
BT, found in most soils and most humans and most animals, ruled safe for use on organic vegetables, when placed into the DNA of corn, a plant that bees do not pollenate, is thought to be killing bees. While there is nothing to support that myth, amazingly some add this fiction to their reasons to hate Monsanto.

one out of every three bites of food is due to bees. Everyone should take a beekeeping class and get you some. Honeybees can live in the city or county.

Check your city ordinances first. Some do not allow bee hives.

Maybe I shouldn't have been overly silly and made light of the well known decline in honeybee population in the US. But, sometimes there are extremes taken as government responses and I wanted to kinda express that, although I won't elaborate.

It's my opinion, as well as an opinion that pesticide uses have been a major factor in honeybee decline.

You got that right. There is no scientific evidence at all that any of those things mentioned have caused the bees to decline. None~!

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Let's see,

Honey bess gather corn pollen.
U.S. Radium Corp. a US Defense contractor told the girls radium is safe.
Monsanto made DDT and told the public it was safe, and the government supported that.
Monsanto made Agent Orange and said it was safe around humans and our own government sprayed our own troops with it.

Yup I'm gonna believe the big companies and the government.