Have any bees at your place?

Help the poor bees that are loosing their habitat and build a home for them http://www.xerces.org/Pollinator_Insect_Conservation/nativebeenests.pdf

Oh that is a cool web site...seems as though most people couldn't care less about nature. Are the children in school being taught about the importance of eco-balance???? What's going on?

For any of you who enjoy a challenge, and don't mind searching and reading up on varied amounts fo information...may I suggest beekeeping...I just began on May 7th...boy is it something else!

Oh oh I seen some gopher snake at ramp off Rest area near Redlands and I notice it and it won't bite... But it kind scared me like rattlesnake but Rusty is around no problemo! Phew! So, Please just watch out that it will be coming out in hot summer at night...

Our avo grove manager brought in some hives to help boost the crop. There are so many bees around here, it's hard to sit outdoors.

Now that my lavender and yarrow are blooming we've got bees! Lovely little golden honey bees, big huge fat black bumble bees (which are becoming my favorite) not to mention the odd wasp or 10.

We have loads of them around our pond. Sometimes they get in too deep and swim around in circles trying to get back to shore!
Our neighbor has offered cuttings from his bamboo so we can make a nest for orchard bees. I want to get it up so we will have bees next year for our apple trees.

I feel better now...the bees have shown up...all over the salvia, catmint, everything.

I've heard about the disease that's killing the bees also. Sometimes I don't know if we've ruined the earth beyond the point of no return or if things like this are just part of the natural cycle of life.

Re: Gopher snakes. One routed a nest of baby mice in the backyard last week. I thought this little guy was a goner but he hopped to safety before the snake saw him.

Great picture!

what a shot!!! well done.

Well, It tell to truth is Global Warming! That why, all of this weather been changes like in bible book every 100 yrs. So, I know I have heard about this global warming past years ago that I was living in Fontana, CA (Southern California) for 9-1/2 yrs! Very dry and doughts, too! Also, I was 5 yrs old which I living same house....Grew up for years!

Yes some of land need to spray for getting new homes in back yard! So, I would blame on them to not spray any of poison on Mother Natures!

Have a gardener day!

No shortage of bees here. My boss' house has a hive under the rafters...they're not the Africanized ones though...they had someone come out and check.

My neighbors in my bldg. are always freaked by the giant bumblebees...(or carpenter bees...whichever they are...)regardless of the fact that they won't hurt you unless you provoke them.

People are so funny about bees...they like flowers and the beauty of them, but always seem to say, "Can't you DO something about the bees?" I try to explain to them that without the bees, we wouldn't HAVE flowers !!!!!

One of my "not too bright" cats got stung by a big black bee last year, but managed to survive...and hasn't bothered with one since !!!

There aren't as many bees during "June Gloom", but when the weather warms up we see loads of them.

Bees be good !!!!

Bees love flowers then they make honey! I mean alot of honeys!!!

Bees are wonderful - unless you are allergic or sensitive to their sting. I remember swelling like a balloon when I was stung a couple of times as a child - just accidental contact. And I don't have one of those life-threatening allergies. One of my friends does, but it was her dog who got into trouble when she swallowed a bee one day - it was on her nose and she licked! Poor thing, she only weighed a few pounds and it took a lot of vet care to bring her out of danger.

The things that scared me as a child were the big shiny black bees (we called them bumbles, but there was no yellow on them) and the horrible wasps - they would chase you if you just happened to get close to them. Makes my skin crawl just to think of them!

Oh my! Same I was kid that bee stung me on my right foot! I was so screaming and hate bee that real painful... So, as I know it has like needle stuck there... Pull needle out! I has stung 3 times on different ages....

Wow, awesome picture!

Just this afternoon I was sitting outside on the patio and the bees were a-buzzing like crazy on the flowers everywhere. They are great to watch...doing their little jobs, pollinating everywhere. I know what you mean JD, my son is scared of bees.

From what I understand, sometime in the late 80's a couple of type of mites were accidentally introduced, which attack and kill honeybees. It doesn't seem to have affected this area from what I can tell.

No hives under the eves this year so far, like the previous two years. That is a real challenge, because they are so hard to get rid of. Good luck to your boss JD.

He's actually a creep, so I hope they infest the inside of the walls of his house !

If they are anything like the ones we had a few years ago, they are probably wreaking havoc with him. Once you finally get them to move on, the honey attracts ants, which is not a fun thing to deal with either.

Someone who doesn't like his boss...now, there's a novel idea.

Hey--anyone who's still missing your bees, I found them today! They are all in the Australian and South African sections at the UC Santa Cruz arboretum. I was there today, and there were so many bees all over the place there, it was really incredible. All different kinds, big ones, little ones, in between ones, buzzing everywhere! Sure made me keep on the trails rather than crawling into the beds looking for missing plant tags, didn't want to get stung getting too close to the plants!

Here's a gorgeous leucospermum, actually one of the few plants that wasn't being swarmed by bees, but it makes a really pretty picture so I thought I'd share!

I agree, there may be fewer bees this year than last. I purposely planted things that I thought would draw them in and it seems to have worked. I caught this picture of a visitor enjoying the nectar from my brug...he seems to be having a great time. Also had multitudes of bees on my pink jasmine earlier this year. I count my blessings. :)

Pollinating insects are very important here, so I watched them this Spring on the plums and apricot blossoms as I'd heard of colony collapse disorder. 1/3 were on the ground under the apricot trees for no apparent reason. Apricot and plum pollination was ok with what appears to be africanized bees (10% smaller in size than european). These bees didn't seem to be carrying any pollen. Peach pollination was good. Apple pollination was very poor. So, now it's July and I saw some honeybees carrying pollen in the mint but am not confident there are enough bees, maybe because of the drought. So, 3 hives will be started and kept in an alcove to the greenhouse this next year. One hive to the apricot orchard, one to the peach orchard when it warms up, and one to service the greenhouse and as backup in case a colony fails.

Is anyone putting up nests for orchard mason bees? Do they mitigate the loss of honey bees somewhat, or are they in trouble, too?
I've seen a couple around for the first time (I know very little about bees) and then last week saw a metallic green bee, too - boy, did he have a load of pollen!

We're seeing a lot more insects, I suspect because we have a pond now and we are getting more plants in the ground all the time.

The problem here is that early in Spring there might not be insects out for pollination due to the temperature. I contacted a Blue Orchard Bee guy up north and he said it is likely there are blue orchard bees here naturally (south sierras) but I see no pollinators out before honey bees. If it warms up another couple of degrees then a few other kinds of wild bees and moths, are helping with the pollination. The large bumble bees don't show up until at least a month later.

Kaperc mentions a metallic green bee with pollen. The bees here do not seem to collect much pollen so I worry that this is the 'bottleneck' in the process. This year the only pollen sources here are the ones I've planted. Although...... when this drought ends the burned off hillside (from a lightning strike) will provide a splendid bee foraging area when it blooms again..