[thegagline]

From an anecdotal standpoint, I’ve seen a sharp decline in honeybees and an increase is solitary bees. Your mileage may vary.

[lightman]

“Deer flies” became virtually extinct in south central Pennsylvania during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020.

I finally felt ONE attempting to bite me this year.

IMHO the CCP virus was trans-species.

[Delta 21]

Not good, Mav!

[CJ Wolf]

Lost my 2 hives in fall 2019. But it was the bear that got them one colder fall day.

[frank ballenger]

I thought no one really knew what caused this.

I heard the many cell towers emitted waves that were interfering with the bees’ orientation and they got lost and died away from the hives.

Guess that didn’t turn out.

Maybe it’s a Chinese sting operation.

[rktman]

One word: “wef plans going as ecpected!”.

[stars & stripes forever]

What is the Canadian wild fire smoke doing to the honey bees?

[tballard56]

I guess I should be pleased that I only lost one hive out of eight this year. It’s a bad honey year in Middle Tennessee though.

[Mr Radical]

52% of 61% of 49% of 56% of 59% of 40% of 67% of 100% means that 98.7% of bee keepers’ colonies have died out since 2016?

[whitney69]

Even the bees have gone on strike in the US. They dislike the Biden economy as much as the humans do.

wy69

[heartwood]

I’ve been seeing the usual number of honeybees here which is way down from.my childhood.

I read that the commercial frames with the comb stamped out for the bees to build on, make the cells just a bit bigger than the bees naturally wood. Saves on wax, more energy to honey production.

So the larval bees grow bigger than they naturally would and are more prone to mites, can’t groom themselves as well.

There are high grooming strains of bees that do better protecting themselves from mites, but are still vulnerable to other problems.

Beekeepers please correct me if I am wrong. I do hope to keep bees one day but sounds risky.

[SaveFerris]

[The Honeybees]

I guess the honeybees were made from coconuts - everything else was

[lepton]

Most of the solitary bees are actually natives, and they pollinate more effectively during the shorter times each of the various kinds are out and about...but they don’t produce honey...or attack people.

[HighSierra5]

I haven’t noticed. At least where I’m at all my fruit trees and everything else were covered by pollinating honey bee’s. I claim bullchit.

[Missouri gal]

I checked out their website, beeinformed.org. Not sure how credible this is. They ONLY report on voluntary, self-reported losses, not gains, as if half the population in rural Missouri hasn't taken up to try honey production. There is NO data collection from wild populations and nothing about causes. Who is financing this effort? What about causes? If a bee population drops, is it linked more to pesticides or to diseases and are there multiple factors? Bee lovers want to know!

[mewzilla]

“...As reported by Bee Informed, a national collaboration of leading research labs and universities in agricultural science...”

I’d consider the source, folks...

[kickstart]

Lots of honeybees in my area.

[daniel1212]

I have only seen one bee so far this month, in contrast to the norm.

[Carriage Hill]

I haven’t see a true HoneyBee in years, since the lawn care company has used Scott’s Turf Builder to clear all clover from our lawns, which the HBs like to feed upon. The number of BumbleBees has also dropped, but there are still plenty of wasps etc around, unfortunately.

[Overtaxed]

Really? My hives are swarming fools!

[Round Earther]

The primary causes of colony loss is varroa destructor, the mites get in the colony, weaken the colony, and that leaves the colony not only threatened by the mites and viruses, but also small hive beetles, foul brood, and chalk brood, and each leads to dwindling population and colony loss.

For the beekeepers out there.

Do your mite counts.

Treat the hives when needed. OA treatments are by far the best option.

Manipulate frames to always provide room for the queen to lay.

Feed the bees and know when to feed and when not to feed.

Learn how to vent your hives for the season and for your climate.