[gusopol3]

The die off of the wild honey bees was noticeable 20 years ago; at the time, the only explanation I saw for it was tracheal mites

[blackdog]

First of all, the honey bee is not indigenous to North America. It is an introduced species of bee which was brought here from European settlers.

Second of all, I place swarm bait hives out every spring, sprayed with queen pheromone. I have never not had a swarm colonize the hive set out. I do not see a drop in feral bee colonies. There is no such thing as wild bees, because they are not native in the first place.

The only real threat I've had to deal with has been the municipal mosquito spraying done at nights from the back of trucks. They get real ambitious over West Nile virus and I've had them kill off a few hives from spraying the ones I have in residential areas.

The most healthy and heavy producing hives are always ones I place in forested areas which are vacationer hot spots. No agricultural activity in the area. I have gotten honey flows from those areas so heavy that I can't even keep up with it.