I never tire watching insects foraging as part of their life cycle. I would note that this spring I have taken hundreds of photos of foraging insects on various plants but I see very few honeybees. I know that nationally there is a serious shortage of commercially provided beehives. Recently I read a report that cranberry growers are having serious problems getting adequate numbers of bee colonies moved onto their bogs (fields) at the critical times for pollination and hence fruit set. This is not a good trend for any and all of our crops that require bee pollination.
2 comments:
Great pictures
You think the bee shortage might have something to do with the tons of pesticides that are used everyday around the country? I think it might.
I'm sure pesticides have had there impact but the problem that has led to the serious decline in bee colonies is biological.
The Varroa mite. Varroa jacobsonii is a mite that feeds off of the hemolymph of immature and adult honeybees. The mites spread from hive to hive infecting each successive hive and parasitically killing of the adults.
States have been forced to quarantine hives from intersate movement.
For a more complete explanation see:
Varroa Mite
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