Do you see any bees where you live?

I live in New Mexico and my job requires me to visit 100 homes a month. Today I was approaching a normal home in a normal neighborhood when I heard a loud buzzing sound. As I began to walk up the driveway I noticed dozens of bees swarming in front of me. When I looked up at the front of the home there, against the brick house, between the front door and front window was a hive of bees, the manmade white box where honey is harvested. It appeared to be it's permanent location. Needless to say, I did an about face. What a brilliant way to keep out, well, everybody!
I just moved here from North Carolina, and while living there I did notice a decline in bees over the past few years.

I live in Portland Oregon suburbs, we have lots of bees this year. From the usual honeybees to giant bumblebees. Our neighborhood has a natural reserve down the street. Also there are many flowers in peoples yards. Thankfully our area seems pretty stable in the bee department. I also spend allot of time in Vancouver Washington. My daughter is scared of bees and notices them more often than I. She noticed there were allot of bees in the strawberry patch this year.

I've seen wasps earlier but for some reason they are gone. I saw one bee trying to get in the house but it may have been a small buble bee. I can't believe we don't have squirrels. Pest control live traps them in town and set them free in our little subdivision.

Columbus, Ohio and plenty of bees in area.

reply to post by SheeplFlavoredAgain


We had no bees here about four years ago and the big black hornets and ants were pollinating my veggies and fruit trees. The bees showed up about a year later. Last year there were a few but not many. It's a little early for them to be out yet, not many blossoms here yet and cold nights.

According to the American Honey Producers Association, last year was "one of the lowest crops in recorded history of honey production."

International Honey Market Report for the American Honey Producers Association January 5, 2012 Ron Phipps CPNA International, Ltd. The international honey market, as much as if not more than ever before, is under the influence of global weather patterns, bee health problems and the global financial conditions of stress and debt. Global honey production in 2011 was most likely reduced due to an unprecedented year of natural disasters alternating between floods and drought, cold and untimely rains. The number of natural disasters in the US was unusually high and the economic losses were substantial. As a result, the US crop is estimated at the year just ended to have declined to approximately 150-160,000,000 pounds, one of the lowest crops in recorded history of honey production. Production in 2010 was 176,000,000 pounds, according to the USDA NASS report, and honey prices reached a record high of $1.60/lb. Domestic sales of U.S. honey in 2011 were down 7% from 2010.

The full report, can be found Here

I forgot, we're in the Fraser Valley, BC, and its really cold here, not snowy, rain, and cool, it feels like its snowing in the house, and we have the furnace on still, which is not something I'm thrilled about, but can't stay warm.

I am in Western Kentucky. I let a big patch of clover grow in my back yard for the bees. Yep, we've got bees. Even saw some little baby bees. So cute!

I'm in Colorado and last year we had quite a few bees of differing varieties, almost like bee hell, very aggressive. This year there are many and they are extremely, extremely large bees, my husband and I joke that they've been irradiated now and have super powers. I was in my garage a few days ago and heard a large plopping sound behind me and one fell from somewhere onto a counter in the garage and was just crawling around. No exaggeration, the thing had to have been an inch or so long and nearly 1/3" wide. It was enormous and not a bumblebee, either. They don't seem as aggressive this year, but they are huge!

ETA: Not related to bees, but thought I'd mention that we have a horrible moth problem here... they came early, are huge (like twice as big as they should be), and are here in huge numbers. Even in the daytime, if I open my deck door, they swarm in inside my house. Strangely enough, even a story here last weeks on the news discussed a CO Springs woman who got into a car accident and blamed it on a large swarm of moths in the road and she either got confused or couldn't see where she was going because of the moths.

it might be the increase of radiation in the air that's making them sick

reply to post by mwc273


There are tons of bees right outside my back door.

They are all bumble bees (carpenter bees) though, I have only seen 2 honey bees.

There are always Bumble Bees, but few if any honey bees. Been like this since the Bee issue started a few year ago - Buffalo, NY.

The Bee Prayer
Almighty Father, "The Bee is small among flying things, but her fruit hath the chiefest sweetness." (Ecclesiaticus 11:3) Bless we pray these small laborers of the garden, which you created for our benefit, that we shall have a plentiful harvest. "A land of wheat, and barley, and vineyards, wherein fig trees and pomegranates grow; a land of oil and honey." (Deuteronomy 11:9) Amen.

In SW FL there are bee's everywhere, seriously. My wife was stung right in the middle of her back yesterday. Thank God she is not allergic, as the rest of her family is.
All types of bee's inhabit our area, including carpenter bee's, which are cool (bee's that live solo, and are HUGE).

I'm in Georgia.

Bees are pretty rare here. Even butterflies are about 1/3rd their normal population -- however, that started about 4 years ago.

About the only flying insects at normal levels are mosquitoes, mosquito-hawks, lady bugs and june bugs. Bumble bees and carpenter bees are about half their level. Wasps also about 1/3rd.

I HAVE been looking and noticing this. It's rare to even see a meadow brimming with the normal level of pollinators -- however, most things in this state other than crops seem to just flood the air with pollen. Maybe plants are adapting by spending more energy making us all sneeze!

Anyway -- anecdotally, I think we've seen a collapse of flying insects and they have barely risen in 4 years -- though 3 years ago, I only saw about 4 butterflies all year -- now I see that many a day. In comparison, I'd see 100 butterflies a day before this reduction or whatever it is.

Originally posted by infowarrior9970
it might be the increase of radiation in the air that's making them sick

That increase in radiation from Japan happened well after the "Bee Collapse" issue.

I'm still half-way convinced it's a byproduct of some bug-killing project from Monsanto -- something like how they now embed the gene from a mushroom in a lot of food stocks that is a natural pesticide -- human's can't wash this pesticide off either like when organic farmers spray it on the surface.

So whatever saves money, doesn't kill you immediately in a way that is actionable in court -- well, that seems to be thrown into the "great experiment" that is rampant Kapitalism in this country and around the world.

>> I WAS worried about the bee collapse -- but now I'm more worried about the 80x radioactive material ready to bust out of Japan's nuclear melt down. Since they have the same system of sycophants and parasitic robber barons -- all they can do is cover up and protect liability, rather than assemble a team of the world's brightest to avoid generations of shortened lives from Cesium and long-lived radioactive material.

I'm wondering what the NEXT OMG thing is going to be to take my mind off of the nuclear fallout.

Well here in Flrorida we get these white stork like birds not sure what they are called they used to follow the tractors a lot to catch bugs. Well they are every where.




They seem to be the cause of the spread of little white flowers that now cover lawns all over.



Well the bees love these little white flowers on the lawns all over. Last year I had to have a bees nest removed with 50,000 or so bees and about 5 large bins of honey removed from the nest. So they are still around they have just spread out. The white flowers on the lawns started near the end of the building boom. New houses were being put in and the little white flowers were all over the newly laid lawns and have spread with the stork like birds and attracted the honey bees from the orange groves.

Little white flowers used to be spots in the yards. They now cover the lawns like this photo.

reply to post by mwc273


Here is NW Florida we have a lot of bumble bees and I've seen honey bees from time to time. Don't know
bees too well but see little ones around sunflowers when they are in bloom.
I would ask if you'd planted some flowers but LOL seems you already have !!! Bees love certain plants
I've read..do you have any of those growing? We here love flowers so we try to grow several kinds.

reply to post by njl51

Oh yes... Honeysuckle, blackberries, roses, snapdragons and many others are in full bloom. Dandelions and clover in the yard...
I cut my (mostly clover) lawn today. It's sunny and 91. No bees. None.
My sunflowers are still growing... No heads yet...

I live in Indiana and I just had a smallish swarm congregate on my front porch light on Friday. Seemed weird to me but apparently it's normal.

Instead of nuking them from orbit with poison spray (as I do to hornets) I called a beekeeper and he came and captured them and took them away safely.

The beekeeper I ended up having come and get them wasn't the first keeper I reached, the first one I called had just got a large swarm the day previous and had no more room.

The guy who did come had been working on capturing a swarm that morning.

Both keepers did acknowledge the so-called "colony collapse disorder" or whatever it's called, and the guy who got the bees from me was quite appreciative that I called, selling honey is his business but he is really into bees regardless, as we all should be to a certain extent obviously.

So, they are out there. My bees were apparently a little agitated according to the keeper and it took several hours for them to gather completely into the portable hive box he had.

Originally posted by djmarcone

Instead of nuking them from orbit with poison spray (as I do to hornets) I called a beekeeper and he came and captured them and took them away safely.

The beekeeper I ended up having come and get them wasn't the first keeper I reached, the first one I called had just got a large swarm the day previous and had no more room.

I have an Amish keeper who will come for any hives I find in my hay sheds or barns. I have a dairy and they like to make nests in all the shelters I have. I think this is a win win for everyone. In addition to taking the potential problem from my buildings he usually will bring me a couple of jars of honey when he comes in exchange for that he takes with him from the combs.

The bees can get the cows agitated and if you've never seen a 1500 lb cow get agitated - it’s not something to take lightly.