Honey bees

[Stephen Eisel]

I have noticed a lot more honey bees in my garden.. Any one else???

[Kenneth Warren]

Neat observation. This evening I noticed quite a bit of bee activity in my squash, along with purple cone flowers and collards that survived winter and have kept flowering. All had bees abuzz.

It's a magical thought to think Lakewood is providing safe harbor. Let's hope we can something in our small ways to help the bees survive and populate in their stress.

Kenneth Warren

[Stephen Eisel]

Neat observation. This evening I noticed quite a bit of bee activity in my squash, along with purple cone flowers and collards that survived winter and have kept flowering. All had bees abuzz.

It's a magical thought to think Lakewood is providing safe harbor. Let's hope we can something in our small ways to help the bees survive and populate in their stress.

Kenneth Warren

That is good news! I also noticed a lot more carpenter bees buzzing around the yard this year...

[Ivor Karabatkovic]

my grandpa owns his own honey bees back in bosnia. I had the treat of taking the honey out of the crates that the bees are kept in.

I've seen a ton of bumblebees around... not so much honey bees

[Kenneth Warren]

Ivor:

Good point.

The majority is the bumble bee. I can't quite tell if all the others are carpenter bees or honey bees.

Tell us more of what you know.

It's always a treat to learn from the rich well of your experience.

Kenneth Warren

[Stephen Eisel]

I have also noitce many new pollinators buzzing around my small garden They are all UFO's to me ... I am going to try to start to indentify them.. (Thank God for the internet.. Looking them up in abook would be way to hard )

[Joe Ott]

... not so much honey bees

There aren't as many honey bees around for a lot of reasons. One is CCD.

I have a brother who is a beekeeper. Has been for many years. When we were kids we had a honey bee observation hive in our bedroom! Basically it was a box with glass sides and a tunnel going to the outside.

Fascinating little creatures.


Check out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder

[John Palmer]

Other reasons include fungus, virus, disease and parasites. Colony disruption is also a factor.

About 20 years ago I was working in the landscaping industry and the honeybee population was decimated by a virus. Ever since then, their numbers have been miniscule compared to when I was a kid.

I've seen more in the past couple of years, so hopefully they're on the rebound.

Of course, I've stopped capturing them in mayonaise jars, so that's probably helped.