Following Honeybee Disappearance, Bumblebees Begin Vanishing Act

[deaconjim]

GRANTS PASS, Ore. — Looking high and low, Robbin Thorp can no longer find a species of bumblebee that just five years ago was plentiful in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon.

Thorp, an emeritus professor of entomology from the University of California at Davis, found one solitary worker last year along a remote mountain trail in the Siskiyou Mountains, but hasn't been able to locate any this year.

He fears that the species — Franklin's bumblebee — has gone extinct before anyone could even propose it for the endangered species list. To make matters worse, two other bumblebee species — one on the East coast, one on the West — have gone from common to rare.

read more at: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,299982,00.html

People around here have been noticing that the carpenter bees and wasps are dying off. Last year there were yellow jacket nests everywhere, and this year we haven't seen any.

[goatsareus]

interesting

for the last many years, we have had a real serious problem with carpenter bees. But not this year, virtually no carpenter bees. But I feel certain I know why that is. Last year we had two woodpeckers who discovered the caprenter bee holes and larve. And I'm betting my lack of carpenter bees this year is the result of the woodpeckers.

[deaconjim]

Originally Posted by goatsareus

interesting

for the last many years, we have had a real serious problem with carpenter bees. But not this year, virtually no carpenter bees. But I feel certain I know why that is. Last year we had two woodpeckers who discovered the caprenter bee holes and larve. And I'm betting my lack of carpenter bees this year is the result of the woodpeckers.

I suspect that the woodpeckers have been around as long as the carpenter bees, so the lack of bees may be due to something else.

[wildhorse]

Jim could it be the same virus that is affecting the honey bees?

[deaconjim]

Originally Posted by wildhorse

Jim could it be the same virus that is affecting the honey bees?

Your guess would be as good as mine, but that sounds like a reasonable assumption.

[goatsareus]

Originally Posted by deaconjim

I suspect that the woodpeckers have been around as long as the carpenter bees, so the lack of bees may be due to something else.

I live in the house and practically live in the barns where the carpenter bees have by history made their holes and layed their eggs. I guarentee you that the woodpeckers have never, until last summer, fall and winter, eaten the larve from said holes