The bees

This is the latest bee article. It has been suggested that this is just an environmental scare caused by the fact that environmentalists are a little on edge with so much dire climate change news in the last year.

I don't think so.

I am not an entomologist of any sort and I have not done a population survey. But. Many of the green spaces on the campus where I work are covered in white clover (Trifolia repens). In the past, the clover would be alive with a carpet of honey bees when the flowers bloomed in May. This year? Walking across the campus nearly every day, I have seen 1 (one) honey bee. My yard (not a lawn) has a fine healthy stand of english plantain (Plantago lanceolate). It is usually very popular with honeybees, bumble bees, and wasps of all sorts when it starts blooming in April. This year? Three (3) honeybees.

I have not put out any bait to see if I can attract honeybees. High fructose corn syrup softdrinks are probably a good bait. I'll try it.

I also should note that all the stories that I've seen published about the loss of bees does not mention, much less discuss, wild populations. I have no idea if the bees that I have regularly seen in the past are wild bees or "domesticated" bees but they are not around this spring.

So. "Eco-scare"? Perhaps. Real? Oh, yeah.