Bee Losses Puzzle Experts

The Lakeland (FL) Ledger ^ | 2006.12.28 | Kyle Kennedy

[polymuser]

Might be from high levels of BPP.

[reagan_fanatic]

They could have had the hive that caused a huge hole in my front yard!

I dealt with two this year - one in my back yard and the other in my Father-in-law's yard next door.

I was unfortunate enough to be mowing the lawn one day and I mowed right over the hole. One of the little b*stards followed me into my garage before he stung me. In the end, I was stung about a half a dozen times before me and Mr. Blow Torch put an end to things.

[JRios1968]

My guess is that most are lost to skunks. A large skunk can wipe out several hives in a week.

"I am, how do you zay...c'est innozent!"

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

My 15 yr. old daughter was the one in our family who walked across this hive while mowing our yard. She got stung about 1/2 dozen times. Very painful. Now she wants extra pay as "workmans comp"! ;-)

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

Really. That's very interesting. I never knew that skunks were bee predators.

[Gondring]

For Christmas, I was given a textbook from 1893 (used by my great-grandmother)... the text is so fun to read, so lively.

[adam_smith_76]

Considering that bees have been found trapped in amber millions of years old, I think they'll not just disappear so easily.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

When I was in college, I went to the Alumni office where they had a complete yearbook history going back to the mid 1860's. My grandfather was in the 1920 yearbook. Reserve quarterback (Fighting Illini) when they wore no helmuts ;-). He also sang tenor in the "Mens Glee and Mandolin Club" and, yes, they were wearing raccoon coats and the front row were all holding ukeleles. It was hilarious.

[Beagle8U]

Yes, Skunks eat bees like candy and they will keep coming back every night until the hive is so weakened that they die in winter.

In the fall a skunk can smell a hive from a mile away.

I worked extracting honey for a guy when I was a kid. We would harvest several tons every fall.

[Daveinyork]

We have had this problem in Pennsylvania for at least ten years, and it seems that wasps, bumble bees, and yellow jackets have filled the niche. As for the cause, the local buzz (sorry) is that it is two species of mites that get into the hives of honey bees and devour the larvae.

[Young Werther]

Calling CSI Grisson ...Calling CSI Willowy Willows,

(that Honey can attract Bees and Me!)

[yeff]

I guess it's time for Plan C

[little jeremiah]

Bees or yellow jackets? I'm not familiar with bees making nests in the groud, yellow jackets do, and they're mean and will chase people.

[little jeremiah]

Without bees, many people will starve.

[FateAmenableToChange]

FWIW, my wife and I have 4 hives, all did poorly this summer. We don't expect 3 of them to make it through the winter, and the 4th probably only has a 50% chance.

[Arrowhead1952]

Fall dwindle can be likened to what has been called Disappearing Disease, a condition first reported in 1915, according to Ohio State University professor James E. Tew.

We used to have over 50 hives of honey bees in Texas during the 1960 era, and lost everyone to the wax-worm. It eats the honeycomb and kills the unhatched eggs. One or several queens will swarm away to other areas and reestablish new swarms.

This will just run thru a cycle, and wild honey bees will reappear in dead, hollow trees. Within a few years, we had over 50 hives again and lost most to another outbreak.

[reagan_fanatic]

Bees or yellow jackets? I'm not familiar with bees making nests in the groud, yellow jackets do, and they're mean and will chase people

I'm not sure - they looked like regular bees to me. It was a good 30-40 ft. from where the hive was to my garage where the one stung me, and one of the others stung me when I went around to the other side of the garage, which was even farther away.

They were determined to get a piece of me no matter where I was!

[eyespysomething]

As for the cause, the local buzz (sorry) is that it is two species of mites that get into the hives of honey bees and devour the larvae.

One is the Varroa mite, I can't think of the other's name.

This is affecting western honey bees, brought here by Europeans abouyt 300 years ago. The mite I named above came from SE Asia, probably Vietnam, by an infected queen. The Asian bees groom, western bees do not.

Native American bees (i.e. the bumble bee) aren't the pollen gathering/honey producing work horses that honey bees are.

[kalee]

Same here in NC. The summer after we moved here, (10 years ago), we planted a garden and the veg that needed bees for pollination such as zucchini, cucumbers were all small and mishapen. When we spoke to the extension agent, he told us that the bee population had been decimated by a mite and that there weren't enough to ensure proper pollination.
We havewn't planted zucchini or cukes soince, but our neighbor has adn from what I have had of his produce I thought bees must be making a comeback. Pollination seems better now.