A regular bee. Yep, it was an Eyetalian goombah honeybee singing O Sole Mio while scarfing down nectar from a Russian olive tree. This was the 1st regular bee I've seen in years.
Ironically, there were no bumbles. Normally, Russian olives are loaded with bumbles. Come to think of it, haven't seen many bumbles at all this yr. Maybe they're succumbing to the die back that has wasted the regular bees.
Geez, I can remember when regular bees were ubiquitous, but that's another story.
I see honey bees, bumble bees, and wood bees all the time. (The latter are the size of bumble bees but all black. They are solitary bees -- no hive -- that tunnel into dead branch stubs on trees and into the ends of house beams to lay eggs in packets of pollen and nectar.)
The only "honey" bees I hear about today are the Africanized version. You also use the term "wood" bees. I assume that you're referring to carpenter bees which drill holes into my outdoor wood beams to set up their nests, consisting of mama, papa, and offspring. A little shot of Drione dust into the hole they drill takes care of them.
In wrecked gardens, we usually encourage bees. We even grow plants that attract them. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that the production of one-third of the nation's food is dependent on pollination by honeybees. Pollination is responsible for $15 billion in added crop value, particularly for specialty crops such as almonds and other nuts, berries, fruits, and vegetables. Bees, butterflies, moths, wasps, and flies all have a role to play in the pollination of our food.
how about i send you a hive of bees from here, they only sting if you get close, 10ft, and if your not allergic you won't even have to worry about dieing! these
First, much of the problem with bee disease is the practice of taking all the honey and comb from "traveling" bees, those that are brought in by contractors to pollinate crops. When all the honey and combs are taken the bees are left to die. The next year the contractors go south and buy new queens to stock their hives. This has lead to a highly inbred line of bees originating from a few sources. This is called the "founder effect" genetics where poor disease resistance is the outcome.
I have discovered that wood bees are happy making nests in the ends of bamboo fencing laid horizontally. It is a good way to encourage them to hang around. Just lay a roll of cheap ($16 a roll) bamboo up high somewhere sheltered.
Ingrid ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Somewhere between zone 5 and 6 tucked along the shore of Lake Michigan on the council grounds of the Fox, Mascouten, Potawatomi, and Winnebago
I've worked harvests at wineries for 3 decades. The bees always come looking for any juice that they can find. The only time I was ever stung, was when I didn't see a bee, and put my hand on it. Don't grqb them, and they won't grab you.
I remember when bees a friend kept in my back yard swarmed. They hung off the apricot tree in a giant ball. I knew intellectually that they were busy doing their thing and would not bother me, but viscerally I stayed in the house and watched them through the window!
Kinda glad they decided to leave, because I wasn't exactly zoned for bees! The writing was on the wall when a neighbor casually mentioned that he was having trouble with bees in his attic. Uh, oh!
HB
these little buggers will find you, you don't have to find them, and when they find you, its not one, but a hundred that comes after you. all you have to do is be in their vicinity for them to attack.
3 decades.
only time I was ever stung,
Paranoia strikes deep Into your life it will creep It starts when you're always afraid You step out of line, the bees come and take you away (For What It's Worth)
Hey children what's that sound
Everybody looks what's going round
Love Buffalo
Here (Dayton, Ohio), I didn't see a single honey bee two years ago. It had me worried. I was happy to see some last year, though not as many as in earlier times.
I'm hoping the local population continues to recover.
The bumble bees and mason bees seem to be about constant.
Heh... Obviously being said by someone who knows less than nothing about bees. Typical trolling idiot.
Hint: I've not only witnessed others doing it, but have personally worked amongst bees that were coming and going so thick and fast that they couldn't help but bang into me as they traveled. More times than I can recall, I've worked hives while wearing nothing more "protective" than a T-shirt and a pair of sunglasses. Yet here I am, still able to type this message, and at last count, my "stung while messing with beehives" score was 3. Yep, three. Guess that's what I get for catching a case of "fat fingers" and mashing a bee while trying to get a grip on a frame...
I never liked working with glasses. Thankfully I could see well enough without. Was always afraid one would fly between my lens and my eye and get all freaked out. Probably freak the bee out too. Grin. Stung a few times in the four or five years my family had bees. Usually my fault. No big. Scrape the stingers. Never grab and pull.
I agree with you...
Problem solved by using safety glasses that fit the face; leave no room for bees or nails or whatever to fly into your baby blues.
HB-
then tell us about africanized bees then, i am waiting to hear all about it, as we have them here.
***It is scandal that they were allowed to work their way thousands of miles North over the decades. The ****ing authorities in all the countries KNEW they were coming, but nobody did **** about it.
How bad is the situation now for commercial and home growers?
HB
i wasn't aware of them being on the south pole and then moving north to brazil, i thought brazil were where they started. we are actually used to them in fact it was up near sao paulo where they originated, if you had watched the video i posted you might have seen how they are here.
How bout eating a pound of shit.
If there are bees that sting when you merely get within 10 ft., they are Africanized honey bees. Those vicious bastards are not in this neck of the woods ..... yet.
I'm talking about the European honey bee which has gotten scarce due to biological and/or chemical agents. Don't you get any news on the rez?
Hell, I'm old enough to remember when Euro bees were all over the flowers and clover grasses, even plantain. And this was in an urban jungle where if you were lucky enough to have a lawn, it was the size of a postage stamp.
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