Bee Shortage

[adkbuck]

Any bee keepers or bee experts out there?   Being an avid gardener I have noticed a shortage of bees in the garden.  I have even had to pollinate my summer squash by hand,  using a small brush to transfer pollen from the male flowers to the female flowers just to get things going.  I hear that honey bees have suffered some losses due to disease or winter losses due to the cold winter.  Does anyone else notice this or have a handle on this?  Thanks. 

[mike rossi]

Honey bees are a beneficial introduced species, which along with native bees are declining. Without pollinators our food production will be harder to keep at current/future production levels and low costs needed to feed all the people in the world, perhaps not so much with grains, but more so in regard to fruits and vegetables.  There are a million reasons and theories as to why the population decline. The obvious first line defense is to increase and maintain bee habitat. Luckily bee habitat provides co-benefits to other species, including economically important ones, like game species.

 

The attacks on pheasant stocking and dove hunting has not helped bee populations, ditto for ignorance about grassland management. Its not all about grasslands and flowers either. Bees use the flowering trees and shrubs in hedgerows, shelter belts, and riparian areas as they do other flowers and additionally use them for shelter from wind. Wind storms can be stochastic events that deplete many bees at one time. Generally, bees need wind breaks as a component of their habitat. Hedgerows, shelter belts and riparian areas not only are prime habitat features for bees and a variety of wildlife, but are also important for erosion control, flood control, ground water recharge, carbon sequestration, noise control, reducing homeowner energy bills, block wind and wind blown pesticides/herbicides, the list goes on and on. And on and on... Those habitat attributes (hedgerows, shelterbelts, and riparian areas) also happen to be prime game habitat features as well - think "co-benefits"...

 

Couple of articles here: http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/about.html

 

Edited July 11, 2014 by mike rossi

[adkbuck]

Thanks Mike.

[Doc]

I have also noted the severe decrease in bees, and it is not just a recent thing. I noted changes a decade or two ago. I have heard that one of the prime reasons was some sort of bee-mite, but I'm sure the reasons are more than just one. At any rate, it is a serious problem that I hope biologists are taking very seriously. Pollination is a very basic and necessary process which if deleted severely enough could be reflected in our nation's ability to produce food. Funny how a little critter like a bee can have so much impact on life.

[adkbuck]

Thanks Doc, Good point, the implications can be far reaching. Many crops are self - pollinating but many important ones are not.

[jim335]

I have noticed the same thing. Where are the bee's, and even the wasps!  I'm also wooried about my garden.  I mowed my yard yesterday, about 2 acres, lots of clover, little white heads all over, seen a few bee's on them, but very few, not good.  I have no answer to why.

[adkbuck]

Same here Jim, I mow a couple of acres also, loaded with clover, but only a few bees. Thinking we may have to manually pollinate the pumpkins, melons and winter squash.

[mike rossi]

Even some self pollinated and wind pollinated crops and/or wild plants that otherwise do not depend on bees, still benefit from a little extra help from bees.

 

Very few people are aware that farmers often keep bees (primarily)to pollinate crops and honey production is only a secondary motive. Other farmers do not invest in bee hives themselves, but "rent" bees from established bee keepers. As a matter of fact, many bee keepers actually travel across the country to different states under agreement with crop farmers.

 

The honey be was introduced to the USA in 1622. Some of the honey bees you see around may be feral and others may belong to a bee keeper. Both the free-ranging wild/feral populations and the colonies kept by bee keepers have been suffering population losses. Off course, both also play a role in pollination of crops and wild plants.

 

I have seen videos of third world countries using people with Q-tips to painstakingly pollinate crops. Those people are probably slaves, at best minimum wage workers. Pretty ridiculous in some parts of the world people are needed to manually pollinate plants to feed themselves and their employers probably eat a lot better than they do...

 

I am sure this topic is going to evolve into a discussion about Monsanto and GM crops...

[philoshop]

Bee decline has been going on for well over a decade. There doesn't seem to be any single cause from what I've read, it's more a cascade of causes. Lots of little things that have come together over the years.

 

I try not to kill any bees if I can help it. Or other relatively benign critters for that matter. Snakes, spiders, toads, etc. I put off mowing a few acres of lawn a while ago because there were bees in the clover tops. A week later the bees seemed to be done and I got the lawn back. I'm not sure if it really helps the bees at all but the does and fawns were just rolling in that lush clover.

[Doc]

Lol ..... I have actually steered out for bees when I'm on my mower. Also, it's not all that uncommon for me to stop the mower, get off and move a toad out of the way. No probably in the big scheme of things these acts don't make a damn bit of difference, but it's just the way I react to our beneficial critters.

[landtracdeerhunter]

Any bee keepers or bee experts out there?   Being an avid gardener I have noticed a shortage of bees in the garden.  I have even had to pollinate my summer squash by hand,  using a small brush to transfer pollen from the male flowers to the female flowers just to get things going.  I hear that honey bees have suffered some losses due to disease or winter losses due to the cold winter.  Does anyone else notice this or have a handle on this?  Thanks. 

 Your observations are correct.

 

Bee Colony numbers at at an extreme low in the northern climate. Last winter took a toll on  many colonies. A longer than normal cold period existed without a warm up causing the honey bee no flight time. High waste levels in their bodies  became toxic. Some beekeepers brought  a few hives into a warmer area to allow flight time. I didn't have the luxury to do so, and suffered dearly.  Swarming, the process of divided the colony, is way down this season. An excellent honey flow this spring and late summer for those colonies, that still exist. Only can hope for nice brakes, this winter, so colony number may increase.

 

Beekeepers that transport colonies into warmer winter climates,still continue, but have to  fight mite and American Foul Brood. Sudden Colony Collapse still has no cure, but we now know what causes it thanks to Cornell research.

Edited July 15, 2014 by landtracdeerhunter

[fasteddie]

There was an article in the Rochester D&C several months ago about the bee shortage . The long cold winter killed off several colonies . One bee keeper said he lost 60% of his bees .  Some of this was also blamed on the pesticides used on crops as well as GMO crops .

A friend of mine who has apple orchards in Williamson had a bee keeper from Florida come up with his bees to pollinate the fruit trees .

[wooly]

I just watched six of them fly into a gap in the siding.

I think we may be facing an overpopulation here.

I'll break out the Raid and try to thin the herd some later!