Bees and Bumblebees

With all the current doom and gloom on ATS, here is some good news.

I recently bought this plant with small purple/blue flowers and the bees and bumblebees love it, they are doing quite well here.

I made some pictures to share with you all, hope you all like them.


A Bumblebee

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/9510fa686288.jpg[/atsimg]

A worker-bee

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/bbcd6acb75a7.jpg[/atsimg]

Another Bumblebee (different species)

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/e68e1650f23d.jpg[/atsimg]

And another worker-bee.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/8474ad33329f.jpg[/atsimg]

It's good to see them doing so well.

GM

[edit on 22-6-2010 by Grey Magic]

Dude! That's so awesome of you to do that. In Sacramento there are so many bushes with flowers that there are millions of bees.

I have noticed that I hardly ever see them, or butterflys. I don't believe in the whole "Global Warming" stuff, but do believe the massive scale of pollution has and is causing many species to die off a lot sooner from the chemicals in the earth and atmosphere.

Those are really nice pictures! Its nice to see a thread like this every once in awhile, thanks for taking the time to post Grey! =]

Bees are thriving where I live. Tons of bumble bees, wasps, & honey bees.
Actually, I've seen more already this year than I did all of last year.

I too have heard all of this talk about declining bee populations. Funny thing... and something I've never noticed before...this morning I saw several honey bees "drinking" water out of my bird bath. It was pretty cool. They were also over in my garden collecting pollen and inadvertently pollinating my vegetables.

Is that wisteria? Cool pics man.

Line

Hey grey.

Thanks man.

Just what I needed. Some good news. I've not seen them very much yet.
You live close by so I bet I just didn't look yet.

S&F

reply to post by Mr Headshot


I though it was lobelia in a hanging basket?

I don't see many honey bees but I do see hundreds of bumblebees in my garden every day. The butterflies are flitting about now too.

It's all about what you plant in your garden. When I threw out my asters a couple of years ago the honey bees vanished with them.

My neighbours on both sides have covered their whole gardens in polythene and stone chips so my garden is kind of an oasis to the beastie world. I have tons of wolf spiders too. They bask on stones and wood and boy can they run when they see you coming. They're there and then they're gone, it's like they have some cloaking device.

bees are very benificial to gardeners, obviously because the more there are polinating your plants flowers, and the better the pollination they create, the more vigorous your plants fruit and vegetable production

sometimes gardeners grow certain herbs because they naturally attract bees due to the smell or the color of the flowers, my neighbor has a small amount of lemon balm growing that seems to be enough to keep our whole area a bumble bee hot spot, as well as the bumble bee growing homes i've created near my own garden

if you want to take it a step further for the sake of the bees, take a 2 X 4 peice of wood or any other suitable size, and drill some varying size holes into the bottom about a couple inches in, make the holes large enough for a full sized bumble bee to fit in
then take the peice of wood and nail it into your fence or against a tree with the holes facing down

any bumble bee looking for a place to put his offspring larva to grow will probably use it, i suggest you put it near your garden but somewhere that probably won't be invaded by insects that might be able to crawl in and eat the larva when they're growing

My family owns a honey farm up here in Canada and we are witnessing record loses of bees this year. It has been estimated that we have lost 2/3 of the entire population. I am only speaking for our specific farm and not the rest of Canada but things are looking grim for the bee population as a whole.

Looks like this

pages.interlog.com...

It is good to see the bees back.

reply to post by wigit


I am not a plant expert, and there wasn't a card with the plant, you're right it is a lobelia.

www.acharmonie.nl...

It has nice small flowers and the bees and bumblebees really fold their whole body around them, quite funny to see, and the bees antennas slide into the sides of the flowers like they are made for them, the bumblebees are more clumsy though.

I live in the middle of the city so I guess they are happy to be provided with these flowers.

It's sad to hear that in other places they are doing less good.

Thanks for the posts everyone, I am glad I am not alone on ATS keeping an eye out for them.

They are great pics, thanks for sharing them.

I've bought a solitary beehive for any bees that visit the garden, so far they are loving it. This brown hive is stackable so you can take it apart and look at the nests for educational purposes.

About a dozen of the holes are occupied so far...



Here's the newest resident going in...



Here is the newest hive that i just built for my kids....and the bees.



I haven't seen a particular decline of bees around here, then again we have plenty of flowers to keep them happy.

I must practice at getting clearer piccies of them, it's a toss up between getting real close with my less than professional camera, or getting stung!

CX.

Originally posted by Sasky
My family owns a honey farm up here in Canada and we are witnessing record loses of bees this year. It has been estimated that we have lost 2/3 of the entire population. I am only speaking for our specific farm and not the rest of Canada but things are looking grim for the bee population as a whole.

Out of interest, what type of honey bees do your family keep? I remember reading somewhere that although there are some species of bee dying out, there are other types that are flourishing. Unfortunately I have no links and I didn't follow up the claims at the time though. What are your thoughts on this?

TIA

reply to post by CX


Wow that is exactly what I'm looking to do when I move out of the hovel I'm currently living in and manage to get a house with a garden. Are you planning to harvest it for honey by any chance?

Awesome!

reply to post by CX


That's really awesome! I think I might get or build one of those too.

Thanks for sharing this.

Originally posted by Dookzor
reply to post by CX

 

Wow that is exactly what I'm looking to do when I move out of the hovel I'm currently living in and manage to get a house with a garden. Are you planning to harvest it for honey by any chance?

Awesome!

As far as i'm aware it's just solitary bees that live in this, so they set up on their own, no big nests or anything, no honey either (at least i don't think they'll be making honey?)

My kids have always been scared stiff of bees (their mum always freaked out when a bee came near so i guess it was learnt behaviour), so i thought i'd introduce them to bees in a calm and fun way.

That's really awesome! I think I might get or build one of those too.

Thanks for sharing this.

No problem

I did a rough copy of the one i bought, with a few changes here and there. There are a few nice designs online you could work to, some people just cut loads of short lengths of bamboo and stick them together.....bees just love anything with holes in.

I live in the forest so i'm tempted to get a nice log and drill loads of holes in it. I'll let you know how i get on.

CX.

PS: Just had a great idea about making one with short lengths of clear plastic tubing....you would be able to see the bees actualy working then. If i come up with anything workable i'll pass the info on.

[edit on 22/6/10 by CX]

reply to post by Dookzor


My family owns many hives of the European honey bee. This year when we went to unwrap the hives of their insolation after the winter, we found that many of the hives were completely empty. It is instinctual for a bee who has contracted a disease to leave the hive and die some where far away to reduce contamination. However for an entire hive to disappear and leave little or no trace to what may have happened is concerning. It is to my family belief and many other beekeepers that they were killed from a mixture of diseases induced by pesticides and a disorder called colony collapse. en.wikipedia.org...

Just recently farmers in British Columbia are reporting loses up to 90%. www.cbc.ca...


[edit on 22-6-2010 by Sasky]

reply to post by Sasky


That must be very worrying for you, I hope things work out for your family!

Are they possible to replace at all? I know that you can send away by post for ants (I have an ant farm ), did you have to buy the bees or do you just provide them with the means to nest and they find their own way?

Originally posted by Justice4Jack
I have noticed that I hardly ever see them, or butterflys. I don't believe in the whole "Global Warming" stuff, but do believe the massive scale of pollution has and is causing many species to die off a lot sooner from the chemicals in the earth and atmosphere

I too have noticed a distinct lack of butterflies in the UK these past few years. I remember seeing them everywhere as a kid, now they are a rarity and a real treat to see.



[edit on 22-6-2010 by Dookzor]