Not so scientific study - honeybees... who has lost them? POLL

[The Tinman]

I`ve noticed that my chickens will go after anything that moves but not bother bees. They just totally ignore them.

 

[michickenwrangler]

There are still bumblebees around here, but very few and no honeybees

 

[Miltonchix]

Haven't seen a honey bee around here in 3 years.
Wood bees, wasps, flies, and other flying insects seem to be filling in as pollinators.
BUT, are they doing as good of a job? Probably not, my fruit trees had to be hand pollinated.
The ones left to pollinate are also pests I'd normally be trying to get rid of. Wood bees boring into my deck, wasps stinging, flies............flying.

 

[Debbi]

I was just thinking about this the other morning while in my garden. I usually see quite a few, but now all I am hearing and seeing are the big, round Bumblebees doing the pollinating. Lots of wasps and mud daubers this year!! So far, the garden and fruit tree are doing fine, but it is odd not to see the honeybees around. I'm in South-Central MO.

 

[JoJo 95]

I am in central louisiana. I lost my first hive to a flood and my second hive to a wax moth infestation.
However there are alot of wild hive out here.

 

[Goose and Fig]

We're in SE TN. There are definitely LESS honey bees, but about the same amount of bumble bees & carpenter bees. I've been doing my research, and we're setting up a hive next spring

TN is offering help maintaining hives in an effort to improve the pollination of the state's crops- I just wish I didn't have to drive 2 hours away for the classes! It will be worth it though

 

[Catstar68]

Lots of bumblebees but very few honeybees.

 

[sgtmom52]

We have 8 hives and have not lost any to this point.

We there are many native pollinators out there ~ however we need honeybees to help pollinate the large amount of crops that we as humans plant to feed us ~ native pollinators alone cannot do that. Part of the reason honeybees are such successful pollinators is that they have a very high population of workers in the hive and the hive does not die off during the winter. Most native pollinators are solitary bees or have a small hive population and only over winter queens which have to start the hive over in the spring.

Many people remark that they don't "see" honeybees in their gardens anymore. Years ago many farmers and other people routinely kept backyard honeybees similar to how many people now keep backyard chickens. That practice ceased for a while, but is beginning to come back again. Honeybee only forage 2 to 3 miles from their hive, so if you if there is not a hive within 3 miles of you ~ you won't see honeybees.

 

[Alabama ee]

My husband was just saying how few honey bees we have seen this year. We normally see quite a few.

 

[SpringChickens]

We have a hive in an old tree in our yard. My husband wants to cut it down, but I won't let him because bees are WAY to valuable. They don't bother anyone and they pollinate our garden, so what's the harm?