Honey bees Disappearing?

[Libertas7]

Whenever I'm out in the garden and I see a bee it is almost always a bumble bee. They out number the honey bees ten to one (if not more) when it's always been the other way round. Has anyone else noticed a decreased in the amount of honey bees or is it just in my area for some reason?

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[Member 5605]

Well we don't know your area...

Bees right now are gathering pollen like mad. I was watching them on the farm doing nothing but pollen collection on the tops of my corn.

There is a very strong hive out there of probably 50-80,000 bees. Four supers tall.

Most flowering plants have cut back so the bees aren't on them and visible as much.

 

[HuckleberryFun]

Bumble bees are native to North America, while honeybees are not. Presumably bumble bees are therefore more hardy than European honeybees and less liable to die off in honeybee-like colony collapses. It could be that there was a die off in your area and the bumble bees moved back in. I dunno. Is there a gun-totin' apiarist in the house?

 

[Ura-Ki]

Another "problem" is we no longer have any domestic honey bees, they are all the hybrid killer bees from south america, The domestics have all been wiped out! I also hear the bumble bee is in a serious decline, But have not seen any real proof of that! I hear the Killer bees are much hardier and produce much more honey, so that may out weigh the loss of the domestics!

 

[Member 5605]

Bumble bees are native to North America, while honeybees are not. Presumably bumble bees are therefore more hardy than European honeybees and less liable to die off in honeybee-like colony collapses. It could be that there was a die off in your area and the bumble bees moved back in. I dunno. Is there a gun-totin' apiarist in the house?

We were gathering up a swarm.
Instagram video by T. King • Aug 13, 2016 at 1:02am UTC
I'm not a professional... Actually I'm the idiot in shorts.

Maybe my son will be an apiarist someday?
Instagram video by T. King • Aug 18, 2016 at 12:24am UTC

We like bees. Considering starting a hive coming spring at the house instead of having them at the farm.

 

[Medic!]

I have not noticed the Bee's.

However. I have noticed a distinct decline at times in the amount of ''sugar'' my wife normaly gives me.

This almost always coincides with an expensive gun purchase?

 

[slimmer13]

I have not noticed the Bee's.

However. I have noticed a distinct decline at times in the amount of ''sugar'' my wife normaly gives me.

This almost always coincides with an expensive gun purchase?

Hmm. Curious hypothesis. Needs extensive testing.

 

[Medic!]

Hmm. Curious hypothesis. Needs extensive testing.

Maybe it dose need some scientific scrutiny. But I'm pretty sure I've got it figured out?

Take the Time I brought home a very expensive rifle and scope for example?
The gates to the ''sugar factory'' were chained shut for months!
And it was winter time!

So now I make all my large purchases in late spring.

 

[etrain16]

We're looking into starting a hive ourselves next spring. My dad kept bees for a time, so I got a little bit of exposure to them. We have plenty of stuff around for them to pollinate and we like the idea of contributing to the improvement of their numbers. We are also very careful about using pesticides and herbicides on your property that might hurt the honeybees.

 

[slimmer13]

Maybe it dose need some scientific scrutiny. But I'm pretty sure I've got it figured out?

Take the Time I brought home the 50BMG Barrett with Leopold scope for example?
The gates to the ''sugar factory'' were chained shut for months!
And it was winter time!

So now I make all my large purchases in late spring.

Well, considering Nov is fast approaching, this just may be a long winter with little to no sweets

 

[Member 5605]

We're looking into starting a hive ourselves next spring. My dad kept bees for a time, so I got a little bit of exposure to them. We have plenty of stuff around for them to pollinate and we like the idea of contributing to the improvement of their numbers. We are also very careful about using pesticides and herbicides on your property that might hurt the honeybees.

also consider helping out these guys:
Mason bee - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mason Bees are much more efficient than the honey bee.
They are fun to build homes for as well.

 

[etrain16]

also consider helping out these guys:
Mason bee - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mason Bees are much more efficient than the honey bee.
They are fun to build homes for as well.

We had some mason bees living near our last house - I tend to forget about them. That might be a fun project too.

 

[Libertas7]

Well it could be just around our place then, that's better than the alternative! I know I should look in to getting a hive going, it would come in quite handy.

 

[Mikej]

Whenever I'm out in the garden and I see a bee it is almost always a bumble bee. They out number the honey bees ten to one (if not more) when it's always been the other way round. Has anyone else noticed a decreased in the amount of honey bees or is it just in my area for some reason?

I hear this every year, yet I personally don't see it. I have quite few planters on my large deck and on sunny afternoons there's honey bees all over every year. Up until two years ago I'd had a good sized garden with a lot of wild and planted sun flowers. Same thing, flowers all "A Buzz" with many types of bees, including a lot of honey bees.

 

[Bon Sauvage]

I believe that Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) was worse about 10 years ago then it is now.

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

im sorry, IMO nothing is fun about bees. especially, when out hunting and accidentally running into a yellow jacket hive,getting swarmed, stung and only for it to happen again the same day but with bald face hornets the 2nd time. i got stung over 40 times in the middle of nowhere. F THAT!

 

[etrain16]

im sorry, IMO nothing is fun about bees. especially, when out hunting and accidentally running into a yellow jacket hive,getting swarmed, stung and only for it to happen again the same day but with bald face hornets the 2nd time. i got stung over 40 times in the middle of nowhere. F THAT!

Honey bees are hardly the threat that bald faced hornets, black hornets or yellow jackets can be. I stepped on a yellow jacket nest when I was about 12, was stung dozens of times all over my body - terrified me of them for years.

But honey bees are generally docile and only attack if really threatened. My dad kept bees for a while and I got to help him with the hives a few times - I would wear a suit, he typically didn't bother since he was comfortable around them and they seemed to just let him...bee...

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

Honey bees are hardly the threat that bald faced hornets, black hornets or yellow jackets can be. I stepped on a yellow jacket nest when I was about 12, was stung dozens of times all over my body - terrified me of them for years.

But honey bees are generally docile and only attack if really threatened. My dad kept bees for a while and I got to help him with the hives a few times - I would wear a suit, he typically didn't bother since he was comfortable around them and they seemed to just let him...bee...

i just quartered out an elk 5 days ago, there were bees EVERYWHERE. i dont smoke but i lit up a cig i bummed from a buddy in hopes i wouldnt get stung. i didnt

 

[etrain16]

i just quartered out an elk 5 days ago, there were bees EVERYWHERE. i dont smoke but i lit up a cig i bummed from a buddy in hopes i wouldnt get stung. i didnt

I'm still pretty skittish around yellow jackets all these years later. And for some strange reason the damn little buggers seem to be drawn to me. We can be sitting around a campfire and they seem to instinctively know I'm the one they need to go after

 

[Brutus57]

We had a berry field when I was kids, lots of yellow jackets and hornets around. I made it a game to hit their nest with apples or dirt clods, I've been stung probably 60 or 70 times in my life... only two reactions, one bad when I was about 13, needed a shot, they figured the bee had gotten into some nightshade that was in several places near the field. Got nailed 2x this year. One painful for awhile, one not so much.

I tell you though, getting stung in the bush near the Arctic ocean in 1998...that bubblegum hurt like hell, beyond hell. Wrap your head around the idea of a black smith's forge with an ice pick in it, all white hot....then he jams it into your shoulder..... and leaves it there, for hours. Big welt, I thought the burning sensation was going to go on for days. Then sore for a week Mind you I was covered in DEET against mosquitos to begin with. Big bubblegummers too, looked a hornet but about the size of a bumble be.

Brutus Out