No Sweat Bees On the Dill

Jun 27, 2007 6 Replies

The dill is in full bloom.



Every year in the past it attracted swarms of sweat bees.



This year....none. Not a single sweat bee.



The only bee I have seen in the garden in the last week was one bumblebee.



The bee balm is flowering.......nothing except two butterflies and a few ants on it.



It's a wonderful world now, isn't it? Charlie.......havin' a bad news day.


Same here. A few bumblebees and small wasps and some small fling insects . I saw a single quail about 3 years ago. They used to be in coveys of about 25 to 75. I used to slay them now I call them hoping for a reply. I'm looking into seeing if I can purchase and release them.

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Charlie.......havin' a bad news day.

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Best

Other Other Bill

Not to mitigate the issue but take a look at night with a flashlight.

You may be surprised to find (as we did a few years ago), a bee sleeping on every flower.

js

p.s. No dill here. Our thumbs turn black when it comes to dill. I am trying some in the new greenhouse now but pickle season is almost here and as usual, not enough dill for a pickle.

js

Hmmmm......I'll double check. I usually walk the garden with a torch after dark, just to see if any of the enemy are active. Didn't notice any bees on dill, but I will check tonite. That would make an interesting picture.

BTW.....have you tried Dwarf Fernleaf Dill? That is all we raise, and it seems pretty easy to grow.

Care Charlie

Hey OtherOtherBill from NeverNeverLand

Thanks for the good news link.....kinda nice to read summat upliftin' fer a change.

I used to hunt quail also, but gave it up years ago when populations started to dwindle. Same with pheasant.

Charlie

Jack Schmidling expounded:

Wow, I have so much dill - I just let it go to seed and it comes up all over the place. I pull what I don't want, making sure to leave enough for the swallowtail caterpillars (they are so gorgeous!). It seems to be such an easy volunteer plant!

The problem is, you are trying too hard. Try broadcasting a bunch of dill seed in the fall. It will come up the next year, and reseed itself after that.

Bob

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