These honey bees are foraging for nectar on wildflowers in a park. Bees are finding fewer flowers for food as more areas are developed and mowed. These wildflowers were mowed a few days later, leaving no flowers for the bees.
My garden is a hang-out for bees of all kinds — honey bees, native bees, carpenter bees. I love watching them going about their business and am glad to help out keeping them fed. Bees are important pollinators. Pollination is essential for most of our food crops.
The honey bee population has dropped dramatically in recent years, and scientists are trying to find the causes. They’ve discovered a number of reasons. Below is a link to a New York Times article with comments about the bee situation from entomologists and beekeepers. (There haven’t been many butterflies this year in the Midwest, which I’ll write about later. )
Room for Debate: Saving Bees: What We Know Now. — Lessons from the battle against colony collapse disorder, which is still decimating hives. Also check out Monarch Watch and Pollinator Partnership in my blogroll.
Catherine Sherman 
You won’t believe this, but I watched a bee show way back when…when I was very young about killer bees invading the U.S. and they were in Kansas. After arriving in Kansas, I was terrified I would be chased down by killer bees! LOL! Now bees are dying out all over…amazing what a few years can do. What if there was a conspiracy to kill killer bees and it backfired killing regular happy bees..LOL!!! Hee Hee:))))
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here in northwest florida we are scant on bees….my bucket garden, on the deck, is not doing well at all everything organicbut nothing like my usualveggie garden in our other house we planted for bees/butterflies//////too much posion in the air???
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Two years ago there was an offrenda (alter) for Dia de Los Muertos for the vanishing bees up at the Folk Tree Gallery in Pasadena. It was not only beautiful, but provided lots of information.
So many people have no idea of the vital role bees play in pollination. Thanks Cathy for providing ongoing updates.
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It’s good you’re doing well with them in your garden. On the farm this year we seem to have had an increase despite the awful weather, which is wonderful. But not a time to sit on ones laurels, we should, as you so rightly say, be very aware of the bees’ decline along with other species.
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We don’t use anything toxic on our yard or garden, which sometimes can be frustrating when you’re pulling out weeds like crazy, but I’d rather not add to the bee and butterfly problem. I need them for my veggies! Too bad wasps aren’t pollinators, I have a ton of them around too.
I got this from a U.S. Forest Service website. “Wasps are very important pollinators. Wasps are in the same Order, Hymenoptera, as bees and ants. Most familiar wasps belong to a group called the Aculeata…..Wasps, like bees, have very high-energy needs that must be met for their survival. Wasps need key resources such as pollen and nectar from a variety of flowers.” Wasps don’t get much positive press, because, frankly they seem nasty. I have a lot of wasps, too, but so far haven’t been stung. I don’t get too close, though. Cathy
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