Re: Are you seeing bees?

**AtlantaMarie** 6/17/2014, 3:40 pm

Yep! Had bumbles & honeys playing in the clover. Saw a really tiny bee yesterday in the watermelon flowers.

yolos 6/17/2014, 3:46 pm

Yes, all over my corn tassels and elsewhere. I thought bees did not collect pollen from corn because it is so fine. There better be enough pollen left to fall on my corn silks.

**donnainzone5** 6/17/2014, 5:27 pm

I'm about to plant two Monarda. With the addition of salvia, lavender, and marigolds, I hope to attract more of our benefactors to my garden.

Also, a neighbor just gave me some cat mint, which also should help. And there's clover in the back yard.

When my English thyme blooms, I hope.....

I hope that once temperatures rise again, I'll be seeing more bees!

I AM worried about recent cold temps, however.

**camprn** 6/17/2014, 5:46 pm

donnainzone10 wrote:I'm about to plant two Monarda. With the addition of salvia, lavender, and marigolds, I hope to attract more of our benefactors to my garden.

Also, a neighbor just gave me some cat mint, which also should help. And there's clover in the back yard.

When my English thyme blooms, I hope.....

I hope that once temperatures rise again, I'll be seeing more bees!

I AM worried about recent cold temps, however.

the bees are probably holed up in the hive eating honey and making baby bees,

**sanderson** 6/18/2014, 3:53 am

Marie, Was it a syrphid fly, a wanna be bee?

**AtlantaMarie** 6/18/2014, 8:59 am

No clue, Sanderson! Are you seeing bees? - Page 18 2636062189

Don't really care as long as it's pollinating, lol! okay

And since that's what it seemed to be doing...

**sanderson** 6/18/2014, 3:12 pm

I agree!

I actually disturbed a bee in a squash flower this morning while I was using the paint brush! First veggie garden bee I have seen in 2 years. bounce

They always come for the orange tree, lav and rosemary, etc., but NEVER for my veggies.

**AtlantaMarie** 6/18/2014, 3:20 pm

That's great!

Had a strange one come by while watering the blueberries... VERY large, VERY loud, kind of an orange-gold-brown-yellow w/ bars. Seemed peaceful enough. Got a drink of water (I think) and went on his/her way...

Judy McConnell 6/18/2014, 7:23 pm

Sounds like a hornet (http://www.a1exterminators.com/bees-hornets-wasps/20-hornet-species-yes-hornets-wasps/ )

Yesterday was the first visit by any sort of bee to my yard - two bumblebees visited my orange milkweed flowers.

jrfrommd 6/18/2014, 7:26 pm

had a honey bee today....but TOO many ants for my liking

**donnainzone5** 6/18/2014, 8:01 pm

Camp,

Do you think they'll come back out? I did see one today enjoying the salvia. And I heard a few more buzzing around.

**camprn** 6/18/2014, 8:21 pm

Yes they will return if there is good forage in the garden, unless the colony collapses, for whatever reason.

**AtlantaMarie** 6/19/2014, 7:49 am

Judy - yeah, that coulda been it... Thanks! I'll keep an eye out for a hive... Don't need them killing the bees.

**camprn** 6/19/2014, 8:05 am

Hornets are not bees but they are beneficial in the garden. They are predators and meat eaters and I have seen them go after cabbage worms.

**AtlantaMarie** 6/20/2014, 10:58 am

Oh, good! Had a flock of cabbage moths yesterday. That may explain why there's fewer today...

And, bees. YES. They're fighting on who gets to pollinate the zukes, melons & gourds!

CapeCoddess 6/20/2014, 3:14 pm

Judy McConnell wrote:Sounds like a hornet (http://www.a1exterminators.com/bees-hornets-wasps/20-hornet-species-yes-hornets-wasps/ )

Quote: These insects eat some tree sap but they are also accomplished predators. A hornet hive will eliminate many flies, bees, and other insects.

Marc Iverson 6/20/2014, 10:15 pm

There's a great National Geographic segment in which two hornets kills an entire colony of bees all by themselves. The bee stings simply cannot get through the armor of the much larger hornets. Fascinating and kind of terrifying, and even a little sad -- the bees' bravery in defense of their home is dramatic and all comes to nothing. The hornets take their babies home to eat. It's also on youtube in several clips.

**camprn** 6/20/2014, 10:29 pm

Marc Iverson wrote:There's a great National Geographic segment in which two hornets kills an entire colony of bees all by themselves. The bee stings simply cannot get through the armor of the much larger hornets. Fascinating and kind of terrifying, and even a little sad -- the bees' bravery in defense of their home is dramatic and all comes to nothing. The hornets take their babies home to eat. It's also on youtube in several clips.

I have seen that. Asian hornets kill the entire honeybee colony. Around here we have the European hornet, not quite ans big, but equally destructive. A guy across town I know had a nest of them . He called me up and wanted me to take his bees. I took one look, backed out of the barn , closed the door and told him he needed another different professional to help.

Pollinator 6/21/2014, 6:32 am

AtlantaMarie wrote:That's great!

Had a strange one come by while watering the blueberries... VERY large, VERY loud, kind of an orange-gold-brown-yellow w/ bars. Seemed peaceful enough. Got a drink of water (I think) and went on his/her way...

Sounds like a sphinx moth. Google images for pix. They are often mistaken for large bees, or even humming birds.

Pollinator 6/21/2014, 6:32 am

camprn wrote:Hornets are not bees but they are beneficial in the garden. They are predators and meat eaters and I have seen them go after cabbage worms.

Amen!

Pollinator 6/21/2014, 6:35 am

AtlantaMarie wrote:
And, bees. YES. They're fighting on who gets to pollinate the zukes, melons & gourds!

Ah, one gardener who has *normal* pollinator populations!

This is what once was everywhere, before pollinator decline.

**Turan** 6/21/2014, 11:53 am

Ahhh, thanks for the reminder. I just grabbed my old electric toothbrush and ran out to stimulate pollen flow from the tomatoes. I keep forgetting to in the morning until it has gotten too hot in the greenhouse.

**AtlantaMarie** 6/22/2014, 9:09 am

I don't know that it's a normal population... It seems to be much less than a few years ago... I remember during the drought a few years back, we got a heavy dew one night. The next morning, it looked like the entire back yard was moving because of all the bees drinking dew.

Marc Iverson 6/22/2014, 6:58 pm

Went to water out back and the humm of all the different bees everywhere wasn't soft and intermittent, but fairly noisy and continuous. Good stuff! Very Happy

I guess they like lobelias. Simple flowers, blue, and dozens upon dozens on each plant makes for a bee-friendly flower. I also have marigolds, but only the occasional moth is on them. Their flowers are double and very hard for the bees to get into.

**sanderson** 6/22/2014, 7:04 pm

Lobelias? I have some seeds, maybe I will try and see what comes up this late.

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