permaculture

["roxann" <roxann@ancientearthwisdom.com>]

earlier this year i had thought my bees were gone, too. all spring growing 
season went by without hardly one bee pollinating in my garden. of course my 
squash and pumpkins did terribly. but later during the year i found the bees 
- they were across the valley pollinating and quite happy over in the 
wildflowers! I could hear them before I saw them, and when i made it to where 
they were, I had to walk carefully through the "weeds" to make a path without 
disturbing them too much. So the bees were not gone at all, but boycotting my 
garden for some reason. I don't use pesticides and where we live is very 
rural and sheltered by mountain ridges from any agricultural parts of the 
state where pesticides are used. i wonder what made the bees avoid my garden, 
which was near the house? i have another garden far away from the house and 
the bees were there, just not at the garden by the house. We have no cell 
phone reception in our area, either, so that can't be the issue. I wonder if 
i place a hive on my side of the valley, will the bees stay there to 
pollinate next spring? Or will they leave the hive and seek out the 
wildflowers on the other side again?  This season's bee boycott could have 
been an anomaly but next year if it happens again i will suspect something 
electronic or otherwise at my house is keeping them away.

Roxann, NW AR
http://blog.ancientearthwisdom.com