Fran Farmer wrote:
On 23/07/2014 9:23 AM, Ross@home wrote:
Without going out and actually counting them, we have roughly 50
fruit trees on our property. Mostly apples, some pears, a few
peaches, a few sweet cherries, a couple of plum varieties and one
apricot tree. We've had off years in the past and that's to be
expected but, this year, there is a total of no more than a dozen
fruit to be seen out of all those trees.
I spend a lot of time outdoors and I can honestly say I have not seen
more than two or three honeybees so far this year.
Rachel Carson was right. All these damn sprays being indiscriminately
used are taking their toll.
Also, this time of year, when our alfalfa fields are in bloom, they
would normally be alive with Monarch Butterflies. This year, none so
far.
A pox on Monsanto and their ilk.

A friend of ours asked us to keep an eye out and report back to her on
the number of bees we had in our garden. I got my SO onto the job as
he is very good at that sort of thing. For the first week I saw a
few only but then I seemed to get my eye in and He and I were both
seeing lots of them but they seemed to concentrate on particular
plants. For example, when the rosemary was flowering just outside
the windows of our sun room, it was covered with bees.

I do hope it's only a temporary blip in your bee numbers and that they
come back in swarms next spring.

Part of the problem is that "wild" bees are subject to all the same
problems as the "domesticated" bees , and they have no support . We have
several species of bees living out in the woods here , but until we got a
hive I very seldom saw a honeybee . Oh , and bees will concentrate on one
plant/species at a time , then move on to another . I just learned that at
a beekeeping class recently .
BTW , our new hive is doing just swell , my supplies should be here today
sos I can add a super . Gotta give them plenty of storage space so they'll
have enough food to overwinter .
--
Snag