Where are the bees?

[Guy]

I've always loved bees. Bees and ants. Something fascinating about the hive mind concept.

Anyway does anyone know the latest on what's happening to the bees? I know numbers have dropped but the last i heard no one knew why?

[Guy]

Here's a couple of links. I don't think you need a subscription to access the NS one.

News review 2007: Where have all the honeybees gone? - life - 22 December 2007 - New Scientist

MAAREC - Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium

ARS : Questions and Answers: Colony Collapse Disorder

[justontime]

Well, I'm not so sure about the bees, but we have plenty of ants around here. They like to live under my front doorstep, I don't mind as long as they stay outside, I don't want to use ant killer but I don't want to share my kitchen with them. I don't like to use ant killer and usually we just put up with each other. My cat deals with any ants that are foolish enough to come under the front door, he thinks it is a game.

[Kitten]

I was once told that "once the bees die out, we'll all end up dying out," so in that sense, it's kinda creepy to know that the numbers are dropping but no one truly knows why.

[Lyndsey]

A few months ago I heard about a German study that suggested cell phone signals might have something to do with it. Several weeks later I heard that the study had been contested. I haven't heard anything conclusive since.

[steppysteph]

So where do the bees go after they leave their hives? It's just so weird that they drop everything and leave.

[emiglia]

Originally Posted by steppysteph

So where do the bees go after they leave their hives? It's just so weird that they drop everything and leave.

I don't think that they're "dropping everything and leaving" so much as they're dropping. As in dying. That's the scary part.

[berlinlife06]

One of the things you can do is to plant flowers. That attract the bees, or so I read somewhere. So if you are in a area where you are able to get bees, then try planting flowers. In NYC I think they'll die.

[emiglia]

That's true, berlin, and brightly colored flowers help even more. Hopefully this won't grow to be a larger problem, or fruit farmers will start to have problems: bees pollenate fruit trees!