# Honey Bee Mortality



## Mike777 (May 17, 2007)

There are a ton of hypothesis on this but that is Not what this post is about. My nephew is an entry entimologist at WSU and is working on this very thing in the colonies there.

This is a more or less observation poll. Do you have plants that Honey bees frequent and have you seen any this year?

So far we have a few hundred thumbnail bumblebees which is about twice last years count, and several yellow jackets although the largest group in the several hundreds have been trapped out on our half acre over the last three years here, so we have a normal amount for the area. I am checking daily and it appears for the middle of may that we may have 100% mortality for honey bees, and this apears to be the same for black hornets and mud daubers, here on the mountain. I will be looking hard when I get down into the low ground and in the cities where they were last year around here.

So no theorys. Have you seen them yet or not and what is your location?


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## NorthernWinos (May 17, 2007)

I have been worried that there would be no bees to pollinate all the fruit flowers that we blooming right now in Northern Minnesota....I go out looking for bees everyday...


I see lots of Bumble Bees...I think I've seen some honey bees [not sure tho,other yearssee more that were for sure honey bees...we had honey bee hives before, so I know what they look like], mostly I see many little dark bees or other insects pollinating the flowers. 


I had a bee one day that looked like a honey bee...it kept landing on my hands...I had just put on some hand lotion and this bee was crazy for it...I put on gloves and it went away....****actually it didn't go away....it went inside my baggy shorts and stung me3 times till I swished it...not sure anyone really cares to hear about that.


The flowers are getting pollinated...I do see fruit setting on....but not sure how many flowers are pollenated yet as some petals are still hanging on, but there is some tiny fruit out there already.


I am concerned about the bees as well and will keep looking everyday...I can say that usually I see more that I am sure are honey bees....It has been terribly windy so the bees are in the protected areas...When I mowed off the lawn [dandelions] I saw many Bumble Bees and I shagged them offthe ground and hopefully into the trees.....


I will be looking and will Post if I am sure about the honey bees, usually we have a lot as a farmer usually sets hives nearby...haven't been by to see if he has his hives out there this year.....till later...


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## Wade E (May 17, 2007)

I havent been looking for them but I usually run across a few by now
and havent noticed any, but like I said I havent been looking!


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## grapeman (May 18, 2007)

If it ever warms up again around here so they can come out, the flowers are there for the bees. I'll let you know how many honey bees there are. I used tohave bee hives for pollination, but have been relying on wild bees for years now. A healthy population of bumble bees carry a lot of pollen and usually do a more than adequate job, but they don't make tasty honey! The orchards do have their hives set in them now.


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## Mike777 (May 18, 2007)

Ok so so far we have:

Seattle, WA: not yet
Middlebury,CT: closer look
Upstate, NY: not yet

Might be late in the northern climes. Normaly for me we have the following:
early and late rhodedendrons, one patch is 20'x6' and 8' tall and a second that is oval 15'x22' and 10' tall, about a ton and a half truck full of flowers right now and no bees other than the smaller size bumble bees. Normaly you could hear either patch at about 30 feet away both of them sounding like giant hives and full of honey bees, nothing on the other flowers either and those are usualy full by now. We have only wild hives here, and they always miss the plums, apples and cherrys due to the temps but its been warmer than normal so i'm stumped.

*Edited by: Mike777 *


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## NorthernWinos (May 18, 2007)

Would you call this a full sized bumble bee???


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## Mike777 (May 18, 2007)

Yep. We don't have any of the big ones right here, but they do when you go down to a lower elevation from us. Hope you went over the cost reductions, lower payroll counts and how he was going to have to pick up the slack for the other bees that were let go....


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## NorthernWinos (May 18, 2007)

Went out for a few minutes to look....Yesterday was so windy...I don't mind a few petals blowing off trees, but whole clusters of Chokecherry flowers were blown off...today is warmer and calmer...


Here are a few bees in the yard...


A red headed bee...








Another...on the very fragrant Chokecherry flowers....not such a good shot [I don't have a very good cameras]








The lilacs are sickeningly sweet...found this beauty...A Red Admiral [I think]


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## jobe05 (May 18, 2007)

I think those are great pictures NW. I love te lilac picture, very pretty bushes. I want to make a gallon of lilac wine but can't find enough lilacs around here. There is 1 small bush between the neighbor and I, but the flower is about 1" in diameter and about 2-3 inches long, and there's only about a dozen of them, I know ofnoothers around here. Now watch Appleman show up and tell me he just took out 100 or so of these big bushes and put them on the compost heap!


I have seen a few bees around here this year, but not nearly as many as we usually have. I wonder if the late frost we had would have anything to do with that?


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## NorthernWinos (May 18, 2007)

I looked more this PM...the Bumble Bees seem to be doing all the work, and there are lots of them...they are in the Caragana hedge...they always love those yellow flowers....like as much as they love the dandelions...maybe they are attracted to yellow.








Still no photos of Honey Bees...will keep looking...some possible sightings.


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## PeterZ (May 18, 2007)

I don't know one bee from another, so I can't tell you what I have seen. I will say that the numbers seem down for Memphis, but it is also unusually cool for this time of year, and we had a very late hard freeze.

I tend to watch the bees, wasps, and hornets because they are more likely to kill me than a drunk driver. I am a progressive alergic. The last time I got stung a wasp crawled up my pant leg while I was sitting on the porch one night about 10 years ago. I came back inside and he stung me three times on the leg. (First time since high school, when I just swelled up.) Five minutes later I told SWMBO to call 911. When the paramedics arrived 8 minutes after that my blood pressure was 80 over 40, and my pulse was 170.

I carry an epi-pen (epinephrin self-injector) in my briefcase (in fact, that is the only reason I carry the briefcase to and from work), but my guess is that next time I will have 5 minutes or so to get to the epi-pen before I pass out.

I am well aware of the need for bees and pollenation, just keep them out of my neighborhood. I really don't care if the volunteer native cherry tree in my back yard bears its 1/4" cherries to feed the birds or not.


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## grapeman (May 19, 2007)

Well it's halfway sunny today and warmer in the mid 60's with light wind. The bees are out pretty good today and I'm seeing about the same number of honey bees as usual along with lots of wild ones and bumble bees. Doesn't seem to be a shortage here. I like PeteZ shy away from them when I can. I don't get as bad as he does, but a sting has drastic effects on me. Usually a Benadryl is enough to keep me breathing after.


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## NorthernWinos (May 19, 2007)

It was 87* yesterday lots of assorted bees...then last night the wind shifted...lots of thunder and lightening...but enough rain to make the eves drip...North wind today and it's 47*...Burrr...talk about a change in the weather....Not a bee of any kind in sight today.


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## Mike777 (May 20, 2007)

Still the same here. About twice the amount of fingernail size bumble bees, couple of yellow jackets if your looking, no mud daubers, striped hornets, honey bees, or the small ones they call sweat bees. about 58 degrees here today but its been warmer to the high 70s. I too need the injector or two if stung, but I don't worry and I don't fear them.


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## Dean (May 21, 2007)

I've been noticing no shortage of honey bees up here in Vancouver, BC. We have lots of raspberry and blueberry bushes. I also have a massive cherry tree that they were all over.

I was expecting more mason bees this spring, but both honey and bumble bees seem to plentiful in my area. I'm not sure we are close to an apiary though. There are a LOT of commercial gardens close by, so I suspect there are quite a few hives that are in the area.


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## MikeC (May 22, 2007)

PeterZ said:


> I don't know one bee from another, so I can't tell you what I have seen. I will say that the numbers seem down for Memphis, but it is also unusually cool for this time of year, and we had a very late hard freeze.
> 
> I tend to watch the bees, wasps, and hornets because they are more likely to kill me than a drunk driver. I am a progressive alergic. The last time I got stung a wasp crawled up my pant leg while I was sitting on the porch one night about 10 years ago. I came back inside and he stung me three times on the leg. (First time since high school, when I just swelled up.) Five minutes later I told SWMBO to call 911. When the paramedics arrived 8 minutes after that my blood pressure was 80 over 40, and my pulse was 170.
> 
> ...




Wow. I'd keep that emi-pen at my side. That's serious business.


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## PeterZ (May 23, 2007)

Mike, I don't worry about it very much. I got stung several times in HS, but that was because I worked in the fall at an apple cider mill, and in the summer I painted houses outside. I didn't get stung again until that incident about 10 years ago, and I am now 54. 

Most of the people I go outside to smoke with at work know about my allergy, and the building I work in is about 200 yards from the Base EMT's. They could walk over and still get there in time to inject me. Heck, I could probably make it to them and tell them what I needed before I collapsed.


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## Mike777 (May 28, 2007)

Still no honey bees. I took a guess at 80-100 bumble bees on the herbs. The finger nail sized bumble bees are porking up a bit , but nothing close to the monster size in the picture. I saw one black honey bee down in the lowlands yesterday is all.


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## rgecaprock (May 28, 2007)

In the city....I saw one outside my office window searching the hedges. Hard to tell here when there is mainly concrete and steel to land on.


My dad is a beekeeper, I'll have to get in touch with him about his hives...last time I talked to him he had lost several.


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## NorthernWinos (May 29, 2007)

Been so windy around here that the bees are hanging on to what ever they can....Was out looking at the flowers on the wild bushes and saw a Bumble Bee and another bee [possibly a Honey Bee] hanging on to Mountain Ash flower cluster... 








These flowers are kind of stinky...There a a lot of big Mountain Ash trees in the gove around the house, they stink up the whole yard....Sometimes it smells like T.C.P. out there [Tom Cat P?ss]


*Edit...went for a ride through the country and saw hives set out....but no 'supers' on...the hives are pretty short.*Edited by: Northern Winos *


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## NorthernWinos (May 31, 2007)

Went out to the Butterfly Garden this afternoon...things are starting to bloom...







The Bees are working over the chives...








Many different paint jobs on these Bumble Bees...











And on the Bachelor Buttons...








Now the seeds will be fertilized...then I have to cut them off soon so they don't reseed everywhere....


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## PeterZ (Jun 1, 2007)

Wow, Northern! Do you have a digital SLR with a macro lens?


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## Wade E (Jun 1, 2007)

A what with a who?



Digital SLR, is that a Mercedes?


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## NorthernWinos (Jun 1, 2007)

Just a cheap-o Fuji camera...sometimes you get lucky. I take many photos to get a good one....I want a better camera when our ship comes in.


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## NorthernWinos (Jun 1, 2007)

They look so nice a fuzzy up close like that...








Guess they aren't cute to you guys who get reactions...


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## jobe05 (Jun 1, 2007)

NW, for us amature photo takers, I don't think that there is a better camera than a Fuji. I had an older 2.0 megapixal and my wife got me a newer Kodak 5.0 and I hate it compaired to my Fuji, which I gave to my youngest son. While in NYC, I had taken over 700 pictures......., about 400 are somewhat veiable, and maybe 200 are worth saving, or printing. I guess bigger isn't always better.


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## grapeman (Jun 1, 2007)

I have always thought that if NW only uses an el cheapo camera- think what she could do with a good one. Here work would be beyond magazine quality. I think that woman has some really exceptional talents


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## NorthernWinos (Jun 1, 2007)

Gee...thanks guys....






As you can see I have a lot of time on my hands...and much of it is spent smelling the roses.


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## Wade E (Jun 1, 2007)

I envy that NW. Im so tired of being rushed through everything here. I
would love to take a step towards being more country.


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## rgecaprock (Jun 2, 2007)

*They almost look "huggable"









Ramona*


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## NorthernWinos (Jun 2, 2007)

They really are cute...they are strong too...they grab a flower with their feet and just stuff their heads into the flowers and hang on...






They spend some time on the Chives so are easy to film, as there are many florets to each flower and they check each one out....Now they are about done with the chives.....I will cut them off now...if I don't they drop a zillion seeds that sprout everywhere...








The flavor of the week...the Raspberry flowers...











The Raspberry flowers don't really seem open yet, but the bushes are buzzing.
The bees don't spend much time on each flower, so are a bit harder to film on them..


When they say 'Busy as a Bee' I now see what they mean.


Of all the bees I have watched this week I haven't seen many Honey Bees....the area hives are short...not many supers on top of the hive...
So, maybe there are not many Honey Bees in Northern Minnesota.....Thank God for the Bumble Bees....they are working overtime.


There are lots of butterflies too....do they pollinate???
Monarch....






Tiger Swallowtail....






And more....






This has been fun!


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## Waldo (Jun 3, 2007)

I sure enjoy your photography NW. Thanks for sharing


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## bmorosco (Jun 3, 2007)

Great shots Northern!!!


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## Wade E (Jun 3, 2007)

While in the Bronx zoo we went into the Butterfly garden which we
thought was the best part of the zoo. The place was just full of them
and they landed all over you. They had fans to blow them in as you
walked in and fans to blow them off of you as you walked out.






The first one is my wife(hiding behind someone as to not get a picture of her) with a butterfly that landed on her finger.


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## grapeman (Jun 3, 2007)

NW- I love the closeups o the bees- but could you back off a litttle on the zoom and get some pitures of all those beautiful flowers. The one with the irises is just beautiful.


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## PolishWineP (Jun 3, 2007)

We have loads of monarchs too! I believe that they too will pollinate. I have 5 or 6 monarchs on 1 french lilac bush yesterday. We also have a bumble bee nest along the concrete of our house



and quite a few hornets. But I don't dare do anything about them at this time of year with the shortage of honey bees.


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## NorthernWinos (Jun 3, 2007)

I would love to go onto a Butterfly building like that and see so many at once...however the crowds would turn me off...just a country gal at heart.


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## NorthernWinos (Jun 3, 2007)

I went out this morning to cut off the chives, but the bees werestill working them over... 












As well as some other flowers...








And...then there are those 'Flying Flowers' on the Iris'...Got lucky with a couple...











Sunday was a perfect day...Sunny and warm...got lots of the yard mowed...

*Edited by: Northern Winos *


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## rgecaprock (Jun 3, 2007)

*I just wish I could walk out my door and into a beautiful garden like you, NW. My little world is so confined but thriving. My Plumeria is blooming this year. It is so surprising....it has never bloomed and I've had it for about 3 years and I'm hoping that it has something to do with the Alaskan More Bloom I used on it. 

















I also found a muscadine arbor I will be raiding soon!! 






* 








*If you are wondering what the brown leaves are......the tractor exhaust was close to the vines and a few of the leaves were burned...no harm done!! The sun got through and these are the ones I found getting ripe.*

*Ramona**Edited by: rgecaprock *


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## Wade E (Jun 3, 2007)

Enough Muscs for a ___ (insert # here) gallon batch?


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## NorthernWinos (Jun 3, 2007)

Ramona...those yellow flowers are so perfect.


Now...in that bottom photo are those vines growing like trees???? Is there fruit all the way up???


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## rgecaprock (Jun 3, 2007)

The vines are growing in the trees and yes the vines are all the way to the top!!!!, NW. 


You can't see the tree for the vines!!


The yellow flowers are very fragrant!!!


Ramona*Edited by: rgecaprock *


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## Coaster (Jun 4, 2007)

I picked up a load of firewood this weekend and the guy there informed me the lack of honey bees was due to the cell towers, the radio waves interfere with them. Not sure about the theory but it was a new one anyways. 


EDIT: Could be a fungus too. http://www.latimes.com/news/la-sci-bees26apr26,0,7437491.story?track=mostviewed-storylevel*Edited by: Coaster *


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## swillologist (Jun 4, 2007)

My wife's aunt pass away last week. We went to the cemetery to lay her to rest today and the tree just ahead of where weparked had acolony in it. We were there last weekend putting flowers on the graves andI didn'tsee them. I don't know if they just moved in or I just didn't notice them. It was good to see a wild colony.


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## Mike777 (Jun 5, 2007)

600,000 comercial colonies dead since last fall. The problem being that its pretty much impossible to find dead wild colonies for any sort of count. The theories are exactly as stated, mites,fungues, viruses, chemical poisioning from herbicides and insecticides, as well as the now famous cell phone towers.

Thought I saw one yesterday but it was a yellow jacket.


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## NorthernWinos (Jun 9, 2007)

Now it is warm enough for the Bumble Bee Moths... 










Their wings are fluttering so fast you can't see them.


Hope to see some Hummingbird Moths....they are even bigger than these guys...





*Edited by: Northern Winos *


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## rgecaprock (Jun 12, 2007)

Whatever is happening to the honey bees, nature appears to be sending out an abundance of reinforcements to insure survival. Maybe I just have never noticed the other types of bees that are working the flowers but it seems that they are where they need to be. Have you always seen these other pollinators or do they seem more plentiful to you all?


Ramona


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## grapeman (Jun 12, 2007)

I always see a lot of other bees, wasps, hornets, flies,butterflies, etc. They all pollenate flowers. Nature has diversified to ensure survival of the species where appropriate. Man has hurt those chances in some areas, but overall nature will win out. Orchards ad farms use honey bees because it's easier to domesticate them and sell their honey than other insects. I have seen some honey bees this spring and early summer, but not the numbers of past years.


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## NorthernWinos (Jun 12, 2007)

I also have always seen many other bees around...but notice the absence of hives set out in our neighborhood and the others I do see are still are short, with only one or two supers.


I have been hearing much buzzing in out big spruce trees...I thought maybe there was a swarm or a hive up there...guess it is just the bees pollinating the baby pine cones...bee of all sorts, including some honey bees...I never realized that bees pollinate evergreen trees...so you learn something new just by watching for other signs.....Eyes wide open see many new things.


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## grapeman (Jun 12, 2007)

Are you guys experiencin unusual amounts of pollen in the trees this year? Our area is turning yellow with pollen- it's on everything and stays put on vehicles even when driven down the road at 60 mph. We haven't had a lot of rain to settle it yet. I was telling Cindy yesterday I will need to hose everything down soon if we don't get a good shower to wash things off. No shortage of food for the bees. The pines are really heavy with pollen this year as are the black locust. Now it's the grasses turn and soon the weeds


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## Waldo (Jun 13, 2007)

We contend with the pollen turning everything yellow every year down our way appleman. It was worse this year and stayed longer than usual though.


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## NorthernWinos (Jun 13, 2007)

Everything was yellow here a few weeks ago...then the rains washed it away....I think it just showed up more because we hadn't had rain for awhile.


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## JWMINNESOTA (Jul 4, 2007)

Read in a trade paper at work today of a scientist in Germany that believes he has found a transfer of genetically modified material from plants to animals(bees). Name was Professor Hans-Heinrich Kaatz, did a web search, theres a lot of info out there on him and his work. Sure it will all be debated, talked about, considered, debated some more...but there are several European countries tearing up the fields they know were planted with GM (genetically modified) crops.
http://www.biotech-info.net/GM_genes_spread.html


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## Mike777 (Jul 6, 2007)

To date we have seen no honey bees in the plataeu area. There was a very large increase in bumble bees, which may have been taking up the slack over a couple year period and we didn't notice until the extinction of honeybees was complete. This is also the first year we have not trapped yellowjackets which we would catch several hundred over the summer in the past.

Unfortunately I have some knowledge in DNA and RNA extraction as well as GMO methodologies. Within that community it was known that some genetic material had the tendency to "jump species" Dollars speak louder than words though. It was always assumed that plants and animals could never be combined in any way, the same way mules do not reproduce. The issue is in the anti rejection chemisty, and that is the loop hole. We always assumed that germ warfare germs would escape into the population at one point or another, so that was the safety focus. GMOs flew under the radar and are in the feild across the US right now. In many cases our crops can't be sold to other countries. The EU tests all crop imports from the US for GMOs before importation.

Bottom line is what looks smells and tastes like corn and other crops is alien life that shouldn't even exist. And we have been eating it daily for the last decade. Scary stuff. 

Good article. I had no idea some GMO seed slipped through th EU net.

*Edited by: Mike777 *


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## Mike777 (Aug 18, 2007)

YEAH! two honeybees came to the lavender today! one was normal, one had a tiny light blue disc on its thorax with the number 12? must be a study of some sorts like the numbered bees that were at my work building a couple years agos? Tag was different, and more rough.

WE got two so it aint over till its over, there must be many more besides our yard!

I was very sad about this, and my spirits were lifted today. I can breathe deep. 

I will check every day now, though I normaly do and these were the first two. I feel so much better.

*Edited by: Mike777 *


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## PolishWineP (Aug 19, 2007)

I've been doing my part to further the issue of honey bees. I am on the newsletter committee for my department and we're always doing general interest articles along with industry related articles. I got several comments about the article on honey bees and their plight. Spreading the word the best I can. I put the personal spin on it that it's affecting our wine making. I think that helped get the attention of the reader. Co-workers are always hoping that they'll do something that rates them a bottle of wine.


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