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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] Honey Bees?

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  • From: "William C. Garthright" <billg@inebraska.com>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Honey Bees?
  • Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:47:54 -0500


For those of you in the areas hit hard last year during the Easter freeze,
that were then hit with the severe drought, are you seeing any honey bees
this spring? In years past, my fruit trees are buzzing with thousands of
them, but this spring, I have not seen a single one. In fact, I have not seen
much in the way of any pollinating insects, except carpenter bees, which
don't pollinate well due to their habit of cheating by cutting holes in the
base of flowers.


I've been very disappointed, so far, at the lack of bees this spring. Even my solitary bees don't seem to be emerging from their tubes (after spending the winter in my refrigerator). Last year, it took them about three days to emerge. This year, it's been two weeks and I'm still seeing little sign of them. I don't know what happened.

All the while my apricot bloomed, I saw only two honey bees and a couple of butterflies on the blossoms. I've got a few solitary bees on my plums now, but not many (and the trees are right beside the bee shelters). I don't see any bees at all around my trees that are blooming elsewhere in the yard. Also, I haven't seen a bumblebee yet, but perhaps they don't emerge until later?

Note that we were hit by the April freeze last year, so there were no flowers anywhere for weeks, but we didn't get the drought. It was bone dry in June and July, but that was pretty normal here. And the rest of the year was a bit wetter than usual.

Bill
Lincoln, NE (zone 5)

--
There is no more important struggle for American democracy than ensuring a diverse, independent and free media. - Bill Moyers




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