Carrie, I know what you mean. I used to have a couple of bee hives.

It is sad to hear of die offs, but more than that it's alarming because bees are so necessary as pollinators for food crops. Humans need bees to survive and bees are now dying at an economically unsustainable rate.

It's horrible! And I'm sure they're killing butterflies and lots of innocent harmless insects.

I also have a large number of bumblebees this year..................love to sit here at my computer and watch them work the phlox and Turk's cap.

Grateful it's been covered by several news outlets; hopefully those empowered have been embarrassed enough to prevent any repeats ... and even help remedy what looks like avoidable damage.

We seem to have had many fewer butterflies this year and wondered if it's coincidence or possibly due to intensified mosquito spraying in our area and along their migration paths. Is it just us?

The fewer butterflies and bees...well, pesticides, loss of habitat...agrobusiness is using a lot of neonicotinoids and GMO crops which are destroying the fragile eco-balance of species and habitats. Fracking, IMO, is pouring harmful chemicals into the air and dumping others onto the land, which also make people sick. I forgot to add...the mosquitos that can carry Zika are active in daytime, therefore daytime spraying is done. West Nile Virus type of mosquitos are more active in evening to early morning. Naled is the main insecticide that's being used in SC...I believe it kills all insects.