On Fri, 6 Aug 2004 02:27:06 +0100, Bmitch wrote:

Chris Hogg wrote:


They're probably bumble bees (rather plump rounded furry things, often
with a yellow patch), because almost all the wild honey bees have died
out due to a parasitic mite (varroa)...

I seem to have four or five varieties of small bee, in a range of
different colours, shapes and sizes, buzzing round all my flowering
weeds. Could it be that the varroa plague has peaked, leaving survivors?

Honey bees still survive in hives kept by beekeepers. There may be a
few wild colonies that have escaped varroa in remote parts of the
country, or that swarmed from beekeepers' hives earlier this year, but
AIUI they will be few and far between.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net