There is a separate forum for bees and beekeeping. Everyone should stop using pesticides and poisons. We're killing the bees, they're not mysteriously disappearing. Cheryl

We are killing a lot of things - we need to keep away from any non natural things to add to our gardens.

Thanks for posting this here - I would have never looked over there in the bee forum.

Thanks Roselee,

I had read and heard of this problem. I've got a huge hive in an old live oak out in one of the pastures here. It's been here since we moved in 9 years ago and I'm sure it was there for a long time prior to that. I do worry about them but once again, they are busily working the blue bonnets here. I hope to heck the day never comes when I *discover* that they've been replaced by the Africanized strain. I can always count on these guys every year for pollination of my vegetable crops and ornamentals as well.

I wouldn't consider this posting misplaced as it concerns all of us here in Texas.

Kristi

Kristi, how lucky to have a huge bee hive in an oak tree on your property! I used to keep a few bee hives (in those little white boxes) years ago and have always been fascinated by bees and other social insects, as well as all insects.

I went to the bee forum and indeed they are talking about it there. I agree about the use the pesticides, I don't use them, but if you read the article linked is seems this problem might be caused by more than pesticides.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bee collapse disorder on Bee Forum

Roselee,

I wish I knew a bee keeper that could come and harvest some of the honey from the tree, but I would be afraid that the hive might be irreparably disturbed. It's inside of a huge knot hole. LOL, selfish and don't want to lose them :(. Thanks for the links.

Kristi

Kristi.....there is a former TX garden webber here in Granbury who took up bee keeping a couple years ago. Her name is Liz. She used to post as Hunter, then Mrs Hunter because everyone thought she was a guy. She lives out on 51 N.

My DH used to have hives of bees in our orchard, but they were taken over by the "killers". I now have a hive of wild bees somewhere as they are busily pollinating every bloom in sight (oh, thank goodness). I have been following this for some time now, and it seems to be quite a mystery as the bees just DISAPPEAR - they aren't dead - just GONE. I hope someone finds out the "why" before too long, as our crops are dependent on them.

My grandfather used to keep bees, and from what I remember about collecting honey, I doubt you'd have much luck taking any out of the tree cleanly. Best to leave it to the bees!

They ran a story on the news about this...very sad b/c so many professional beekeepers are losing money as their bees disappear.

It's a mite that's killing the bees. Pestacides,herbacides and fertilizers aren't helping the problem. PJ

Here is a link that might be useful: killer mites

They don't have a clue so far what is causing this new problem. The mites are an older known problem. The way it describes them just disappearing...maybe they should get the FBI on the case. Okay, maybe not...but yeah, it's extremely serious. There is going to be big crop failures if the commercial beehives are wiped out. Just think about it!

Mites are controllable, PJ!!! DH used to put strips in the hives to keep them safe from mites. The problem now is that there is no known reason for their disappearance, and I hope they solve it soon.

The tracheal mites are a well-known problem that peaked maybe 5 years ago, but never wholly went away. This "hive abandonment" problem is newer, and different. The bees aren't just dying, they're vanishing, leaving just the queen and immature drones behind in the hives.

The current prevailing theory is that a particular insecticide used in agriculture (can't recall the name) is a neurotoxin that can cause disorientation in insects. The thinking is that exposed bees simply fly away from the hive and can't find their way back, eventually dying in the field from exposure. It's not been proven, but it certainly explains much of the mystery.

This is why I put up with the leaf rollers on my cannas and won't spray or treat roses for bugs.

I don't want to hurt the bees or the hummers. :(]

The other reason is I'm lazy. :)

Got a bit freaked out with all of the comments on the bees forum and had to walk out to the hive in my pasture....Thank goodness, it was a very busy day there :).

Kristi

melvalena, we have a lot in common. Well, I'm glad they can control the mites.... this is awful! PJ

Kristi, May all honey bees everywhere be as healthy and happy and busy as those in the the old oak tree in your pasture. :-)

Thanks roselee, I couldn't agree more. I can't describe how I would have felt if I had seen no activity out there.....

Kristi

The last significant bees I remember seeing in my yard were last fall when the camellia was blooming, and they were thick all over it. Before this thread came up, I had been wondering where the bees are this year. Usually they are already on some of my yaupons which are blooming now. Have seen a few bumblebees, but no honey bees. Does anyone know if this could be a cyclical thing (kind of like fish die-offs in the lakes every few years). I wonder if it has happened before. I don't mean to diminish the impact of this, but sometimes there are groups that will make natural occurrances sound far worse than they really are. This could be mother natures way of renewing the bee populations. Please don't bash me for wondering, but these days you have to think about motives for every bit of negative news you hear.

Deb, I don't think anyone will bash you for your questions....At least I hope not. But in reading the information provided in the above links, I have to think that a 70% (that's huge!) decline in bees in Texas is not something that has happened in the recorded past. Surely it would have been documented. And I agree with you...we've come to a sad state of affairs when everything you hear or read must be taken with a grain of salt.... but unfortunately that's the way things are these days.

Kristi

I've seen lots of bee activity around my neighborhood.

That's not to say there aren't bees else where, just that here where I am, it seems normal.

Me too Melvalena, and not just here at my place. When I bought scabiosa earlier in the year in town, there were tons of bees working the blossoms. I had to be careful that I didn't bring any into the truck with me :).

The insecticide mentioned in a post above that is thought to cause disorintation in bees so that they cannot navigate is Imidacloprid.

"Ecological effects:

The application of imidacloprid by foliar spraying, is highly toxic to honey bees.

The acute toxicity of imidacloprid varies widely among bird species. It is Âhighly toxic to certain species including house sparrow, Japanese quails, canaries and pigeons. Based on these tests, the ecological effects branch of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concluded that their Âlevels of concern were exceeded for both non-endangered and endangered songbirds. Imidacloprid causes abnormal behaviour such as lack of coordination, lack of responsiveness and an inability to fly, even in birds for which it is not highly toxic, such as mallards. Other problems include eggshell thinning (at exposures of 61mg/kg), decreased weight (at exposures of 150 parts per million (ppm) in food) and reduced egg production and hatching success (at exposure of 234 ppm in food.)16 In studies with red-winged blackbirds and brown-headed cowbirds, the birds learned to avoid imidacloprid treated seeds after experiencing transitory retching and loss of co-ordination17."

Linked is one of many articles on Imidacloprid's toxicity.

Here is a link that might be useful: Imidacloprid

Yikes! That Imidacloprid is a nasty bit of work, isn't it?

In happier news, I was heartened yesterday to see dozens of honeybees (along with a few bumblebees) happily buzzing around my caerulea passion flowers. And lots of sphinx moths swarming my wife's honeysuckle. While madness rages among the insect world elsewhere, at least I can enjoy a small island of tranquility. :-)

We had a good, loud hum of bees on our Mexican plum a few weeks back. That was encouraging because I had also read of the Colony Collapse Syndrome (or whatever it's called more commonly now - I haven't researched lately). Scary.

I understand that the mite problem does not affect the Africanized bees because they groom each other unlike the European bees. Did I read correctly that there are NO native honeybee species in N. America?! How can that be, with all the native wildflower species?

Anyway, whether or not they are caused by humans (and whether or not humans can deal with the problems without making the cure worse than the disease!), along with climate changes, declines in bee populations are especially alarming. If enough land crops fail, humanity (the number that survives, which could be small!) might have to switch to eating products made from ocean plants (and say bye-bye to ethanol plus a million other corn products). If the colony collapses are a result of biological warfare, well then, the "winners" are going to be equally hungry and starved losers.

Stitches, I could not agree more --- how insane is it to use a food product to satisfy our demand for less dependency on fossil fuels? There are many other ways to do that such as fuel cells, etc.

I don't find the subject of bees disapearing off topic on this forum. We need bees to pollinate our plants.
It seems to be a serious problem and any input from even a small time gardener, may help solve the mystery. It's not just Texas, but all across the U.S.
I tend to think, like jblaschke suggested. The bees are simply becoming lost and can't find their way back home.
I don't know how many people here may listen to an "out there strange stuff" radio show "coast to coast with George Noorey" but they have been going on about the decline of Honey bees for quite some time. They make it seem quite scary, and are trying to get more media attention to it. It seems most people think it's no big deal, because they don't realize how much our food sources depend on these creatures.
I've seen one lone honey bee so for this year. Hope to see many more in the future.

WHAT CAN WE DO? It's really not my style to get on the soap box and tell others what to do, but thought the following post that was on the GW bee forum pretty good:

"We can stop using pesticides and help others understand the dangers of pesticides, for bee health, human health, ecosystem health.

"As people who love and know about bees, we can gently educate our friends, neighbors, and family members about the wonders of honeybees, and their importance to our ecosystem and food systems.

"We can support environmental protection by volunteering or donating to local environmental protection organizations and efforts.

"We can hold our local, state, and federal politicians accountable to us when it comes time to vote on bills with relevance to the health of our environment.

"We can support local, organic (or low-impact) agriculture that manages farmland with respectful, environmentally friendly practices.

"We can write editorials and letters to our local newspapers requesting that they increase coverage of environmental issues, including the problems various pollinators are facing."

---

Most people just have no idea the damage to bees, birds and the environment that might be caused by the use of insecticides. An aquaintance once told me, "Well, I'm going to the store to buy some insecticide to spray the yard with." I asked her what kind of insects she had that would warrent spraying the whole yard. "Oh, just for whatever bugs are there." :-(

I haven't used any insecticides for years except to spot treat with a light horticultural oil for scale and whiteflies. I've found the garden really does reach a sort of balance with the good bugs keeping the bad bugs in control, but I don't do much veggie gardening. That would take more thought and education to manage and big veggie garden with natural controls.

Gene modified crops (crops modified to produce BT) are implicated in bee decline as well as the direct application of insecticides and other chemicals that not only kills bees, but weakens them so they they succumb to mites and other maladies. I had little information and no opinions about GM crops before I read the article I first posted.

It seems the individual gardener will have little impact in a world arena where big business is in competition to grow ecomically in the short term by using chemicals and GM crops, but we do what we can in our own little environment and if we see less bees at least we will know why. It seems to be a big problem with no easy answers.