Shortage of bees
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There is a distinct shortage of bees here, and I have only seen one or two butterflies. I had loads of flowers on the runner beans but no bees to pollinate, so only a couple of beans. My daughter who has a large vegetable plot said the same. Is it the same in France? Is it due to the heat and drought?
Yes we here in France have noticed that there are not so many bees this year. At the moment insecticides are still being used as far as I am aware. It will be too late when there are very few bees which at the moment seems to be the case. No pollination equals less food.
Having spoken to a local Beekeeper, there are several reasons for the decline. Insecticide, obviously, lack of habitate in places. Hornets which bite the heads off the bees as they emerge or return to the hives.
The price to buy a swarm has increased enormously, which makes me wonder why I have never heard of a bee farm?
Perhaps farmers subsidies could be linked to the number of hives they have. Maybe farmers could have bee co-operatives where maybe one or two people look after the hives on several farms. It sounds like a win win. as Jivedance said the more bees the more crop and therefore more money for the farmer in the crop, in honey, beeswax and even selling colonies.
Hives could be situated on set aside land or headlands so as not to take land from the crops.
Few bees here, several are enjoying the artichoke flowers but that is all, on the lavander, mainly bumble bees (a lot of them). Wasps are a bit too many !
It’s a sad state of affairs whatever the reason as we must have pollinators to keep producing food.
I’ve used to see plenty of hoverflies, but they are also missing this year
No shortage here! Got masonry bees (black ones), making holes in our colombage walls. Don’t know what to do about it. Obviously don’t want to kill them. Any ideas anyone?
Must admit, since I put in the small waterfall system at our place, the place has become the local watering hole for every insect, bird and amphibian. Sat here right now, watching a couple of dragonflies at the bar.
Bees? plenty.
They certainly are attracted by the lavender.
Fortunately no wasps or hornets this year – touch a big piece of wood.
It’s a strange year for insects, small wasps, very few bees and only small butterflies. I did see a dragonfly the other day though!
I used to love those mortar bees, there were enough holes in our walls for them to use without them making any!
They do not seem aggresive at all, but they do fly close to you and it is impossible to sit on our patio at the moment. Are they doing any damage behind those holes I wonder?
<p style=”text-align: left;”>No, they’re not at all aggressive & very pretty, a bit noisy but beautiful to see. They don’t do major damage to property and leave after the summer, you could then fill holes to prevent water damage etc if you’re concerned. Just sit a bit further away and enjoy them while they’re there, they probably won’t come to the same site next year.</p>
Thanks for that Fruitcake. I did wonder if they would leave at the end of the season.
Over the last few days we have noticed an increasing number of mini bees, almost black less than 1cm but carrying a lot of pollen.
Weird goings on Bonjour for sure. I still have only seen one red admiral and one peacock butterfly of the larger variety, otherwise, all small ones and still only the small wasps.
The flowers of the buddleia are dying off too quickly too – lack of water and too much heat
I’d love to swap our bl***y flies for some bees, any takers?!
Weird that they survive anything isn’t it, Paul?
A Beeker is setting up five hives of bees less than 10 metres from our boundary, so we should see some soon.
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