Honey Bees - Colony Collapse

So far this year, we've only seen a couple honey bees flying around our gardens. It's scary. Without the bees, pollination is going to be almost non-existent, unless it's done by hand. This has been going on for several years now with very few bees.

We have many plants in our gardens that were planted specifically for the bees. But alas, there just aren't that many.

Have you seen any bees around your neighborhood?

I've seen a lot more this year so far than what i have the last few, I however are in a totally different country

The college where fFIL works has 3 hives going very strong, the bee keeper dudes that came out to check on them a couple weeks ago said they were the healthist hives he has seen in a while they actually need to split one of the hives theres a new queen about and loads of workers

I've seen quite a few different kinds of bees this year buzzing around here.
But I did see a documentary last year about the mass collapse of honey bee hives and the different causes. Seems to be worse down in the States, particularly California. I hope the situation can be remedied, and quickly, or else the ramifications for agriculture are going to be huge.

Last year and this year I've seen plenty of bees, but there was a couple years that I didn't see any.

We are all going to be on bee watch now

We have lots of them in the clover in our grass. I hope your garden will do well.

There are a couple of bushes near my door that attract bees. The apartment complex came out and had them sprayed to get rid of the bees since my neighbor is highly allergic. He was afraid of getting stung and asked that they be sprayed. I just wish they wouldn't have sprayed the bush next to my door. DH yelled at them since the girls were in the door when they sprayed. Scared them but they are ok. I am also allergic to bees.

My husband and myself are beekeepers in SW Missouri and,not this year luckily,but a couple of years ago,we lost a few hives to CCD.It's scary...one week they're there and dong fine,and the next,not even a bee left to tell a tale.We have had some pretty good luck,but we know of many not so fortunate.Bees are soooo important for so many reasons.Not many people realize their true value.

If you're interested there is a research project you can participate in. It's called The Great Sunflower Project. They're trying to gather information about bees to see what's causing it. All you have to do is plant some sunflowers and count how many bees you see within a certain time period. Here's the website that talks all about it http://www.greatsunflower.org/

I for whatever reason can't get sunflowers to grow. I think my dogs eat them because I've caught them eating the seeds under my bird feeder.

I've seen a few bees hovering around my salvia bush and lantanas. Two of those were bumblebees though.

i have a red bottlebrush tree in my backyard that's blooming right now and the whole tree seems to be buzzing constantly. i think i have more than my share of bees right now

I haven't noticed many (if any) bees yet, but have spotted quite a few wasps and yellow jackets. The bees usually make their first noticable appearance when our linden tree blooms, so I guess I'll have to wait and see.

I have tons of them in my yard. YAY......................

I have extensive landscaping and a large beekeeper has many hives about 1/8 miles away.

One can also check out the Xerces.org website for bee tips.

Around here, the mesquite is in full bloom and the trees are buzzing quite loudly with bee activity.

This has been an ongoing problem across the country. Currently from what I've read there is a mystery disease in the hives that are killing the honey bees and they have not found out what it is or how to cure it.

Yes we are in a lot of trouble if the honey bees are not there - because many of our crops depend on those bees!

I've seen quite a few around the clover here (they are the small, cute ones, right?). I am terrified of wasps, hornets, yellowjackets but honey bees, bumble bees I can deal with and let them live their lives. The other ones I will kill, especially if I find them in my house! (DH is deathly allergic).

Question...do wasps and hornets help with pollination too? I don't see them doing anything but dive bomb everything that moves...mainly me.

I'm not very educated in bees in general so any website you can point me to that shows the differences...ie benefits, hazards, etc, would be helpful for me and others.

Originally Posted by calico2222

Question...do wasps and hornets help with pollination too? I don't see them doing anything but dive bomb everything that moves...mainly me.

Click to expand...

It depends on the type. Some of them do help with pollination - these tend to be your yellowjackets and some of your paper wasps. Others, your more solitary wasps, are spider hunters and thus very beneficial in their own way.


I have a question. Africanized bees are still moving further north in some areas, further north than they're thought to be able to go. Since these bees are fairly hardy, are they suffering from colony collapse the same as the others? or are they replacing the bees in the regions they're in at a faster rate because the european bees are having problems?

ETA: found the answer myself http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/pub..._NO_115=220761 It can, but they are more hardy - though not immune. They're no good for bee keepers, though.

I didn't think it affected the African bees, at least not to the extent our native honey bees are suffering.

We have seen a few more honey bees around here, now that we have warmer weather. And we now specifically choose our flowers in our gardens for bees and butterflies, trying to do our part to help bring bees back.

One of our local beekeepers, Dave Hackenberg, was almost wiped out when he lost his bees. He did buy more and is trying to work with them. He drives throughout the east coast with his bees, using them on farms for pollination. He is considered to be an expert on the colony collapse and was on 60 Minutes last year, I think it was, discussing the disorder. He's very educated about his bees.

The fact that some of you have seen more bees lately gives me hope.

They may have found what is causing the colony collapse:

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/gene...stery_deepens_

Hopefully they can remedy this.

I've only seen bumblebees, and quite a lot of them, this year. I have yet to see a honeybee.