I planted white Dutch clover in the garden paths last year, so I have lots of flowers for the bees. I was seeing them early on brassica flowers this year, so I left those plants. I think not using pesticides makes a big difference and I know your place has plenty of flowers for them.

I've caught 5 swarms this year. I'm seeing lots of bees.

Amy, We have fields full of clover. Otherwise, I'd plant it right in the garden too.

I agree not using pesticides that harm bees makes a big difference, and it is a reason I seldom even use organic pesticides, particularly in a spray formulation. I never want to do things that harm the bees.

Robert, That's terrific. I am glad to hear the bees are so prolific this year. I see a lot every day and even saw a lot in winter. I always think that seeing the bees so abundant is a really good sign.

Dawn

We have lotsa bees. I'm stronger this year and challenging to mow more frequently and, so, I raised the blade up on my mower. Clover flowers remain. Yay!

We've been mowing high too. I hate to cut the clover when it is in bloom. I'm sure the bees appreciate our efforts to leave them the clover flowers.

My bees are looking better than they have in a couple of years. Just learned to effectively treat small hive beetles. What a difference that makes!

George

I had tons while the blackberries were in full bloom, but am seeing less of them now that the berries have loaded on. I've noticed most of the ladybugs have moved on, too.

I haven't noticed any bees but I am sure they are around somewhere. The ladybugs are still everywhere.

The ladybugs follow the pests, so once they have devoured whatever pests you have, the move on looking for more. After all, if they run out of something to eat, they die. Most of the time, the lady bugs come back in waves following new pest outbreaks. If you are seeing new pests and don't have lady bugs, sometimes you can lure them back by making wheast and spreading it on stakes in your gardening areas.

Wheast Recipe

I still have lady bugs around, but not as heavily as before. Earlier, they were on the veggies more than they are right now, but right now they are on a lot of the flowers. We have over 400 species of lady bugs in the USA and they all do not act the same and they all do not eat the same, so you will observe different kinds of behavior depending on which lady bugs you have at a given time.

Saw a baby praying mantis on a potted tomato just now. They creep me out. Also had a dead rabbit in one of the beds. LONG DEAD, but still camoflaged by the mulch. We could smell it, but couldn't see it.

Well, yuck, that's one of my least favorite things to find dead in the garden.

My latest sighting was the first leaf-footed bug of the season. It wasn't in my garden. It was on the native plum fruit. I reached out with a pair of scissors to cut it in half, but it saw them coming and quickly fell into the tall grass in the pasture next door, as our plum trees grow right along the fence line. Maybe I'll get that leaf-footed bug another day, hopefully before it moves to the tomato plants.

We haven't had all that many garden pests yet, and a lot of the ones that prey specifically on cool-season crops never showed up. Caterpillars are really starting to show up now, and the number of baby grasshoppers is scary. The big thing I'm seeing tons of is spider mites, both in the fields and in the garden. I gues one reason there's so many in the garden is because the fields are full of them. I saw some vetch plants underneath the native plums that are totally bleached out in color already due to the spider mites. I guess we can blame all the early heat for the really robust herd of spider mites everywhere. I had noticed spider mites on the bush bean plants, but the bush beans have been producing forever and are slowing down now so I'm thinking of yanking them out before the spider mites can spread and find the pole beans and southern peas.

I squished a spotted cucumber beetle yesterday...bare handed. Gross, but it's gone.