Are bees still dying? (1 Viewer)

[glumpy]

Hard-earned bee advice:

Boring/carpenter bees look a lot like bumble bees, but with more black and they burrow into wood. They hover and dart around and are pretty scary but I've never heard of anyone getting stung buy one.

Sort of right. The ones that you see flying around are the males and they are hovering around the holes where the females are nesting.

You cut into that nest and disturb the ladies and they'll put a hurtin on you.

 

[SacramentoBob]

What are the big wasp looking things that build a small nest on the side of brick? Seems like there's usually no more than 3-5 of them.

 

[tom22406]

Had a few encounters with hornets who are about as evil as you can get in the bee family.Was cutting grass at a neighbors yard underneath the apple tree they had and just so happened to look up and I see this huge hornets nest about 3 feet away from my head.Big cone shaped ball of death and all I could think to do was push the mower away from the tree and run as fast as I could out from under the tree(saw a few coming out).I was an Olympic sprinter and hurdler(jumped a 5 foot fence with ease)that day and all I remember was looking back and seeing this swarm come after me and I must have ran for a good 1/4 to 1/2 mile until I no longer saw them.

Went back with some gasoline and a long stick with full protection on and took that sucker out.#### hornets and if you've ever been hit by one you feel the same.

 

[Nathan R. Jessep]

What are the big wasp looking things that build a small nest on the side of brick? Seems like there's usually no more than 3-5 of them.

dirt dobbers?

 

[tom22406]

What are the big wasp looking things that build a small nest on the side of brick? Seems like there's usually no more than 3-5 of them.

dirt dobbers?

I have always called them mason bees.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

What are the big wasp looking things that build a small nest on the side of brick? Seems like there's usually no more than 3-5 of them.

Mud daubers? They look like wasps and build little mud tunnels on the side of buildings. Or maybe paper wasps if it's a chambered paper nest that's the same material as hornets use.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

What are the big wasp looking things that build a small nest on the side of brick? Seems like there's usually no more than 3-5 of them.

dirt dobbers?

I have always called them mason bees.

I think those are like honey bees, but I'm not sure.

Ground bees are sort of similar to honey bees too -- just smaller and they have little individual burrows in the dirt.

 

[SacramentoBob]

What are the big wasp looking things that build a small nest on the side of brick? Seems like there's usually no more than 3-5 of them.

Mud daubers? They look like wasps and build little mud tunnels on the side of buildings. Or maybe paper wasps if it's a chambered paper nest that's the same material as hornets use.

Google image suggests paper wasp is correct.

 

[kentric]

Hard-earned bee advice:

Bald-faced hornets are also of the devil but have the decency to build huge, obvious paper nests in trees. Most of the time people who get on the wrong side of them were doing something they shouldn't have been.

Sand-hornets/cicada killers are terrifying. Three inches long and bullet shaped they also hover around the nests they build in sandy soil. But they're extremely peaceful and even if you're walking around in the middle of a bunch of them they won't sting you.

Had a hornet nest in one of our cedar trees. Damn thing was huge and "freaked" my kids out. I ended up using my telescoping limb pruner, the branch was too thick so it was stuck into the branch. The only solution I thought I had (other than going with a professional) was to pull up my van near the rope hanging from the trimmer and pulling it through the window. Backed the van up and use the torque to cut the branch. Branch comes down and the nest luckily landed on the driveway. Ended up running over the nest with the van. All this with Hurricane Sandy popping through. I was most impressed by myself as the tire squash was perfectly placed. A day later I checked out the nest. So many wasps crushed inside it.

https://www.google.com/search?q=telescoping+tree+pruner+images&espv=2&biw=1280&bih=939&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=a8JHVeG_I43EgwSh4YH4Ag&ved=0CD8QsAQ#imgrc=_PPKxZidaBnHsM%253A%3BeI7SV2qFQ5-CwM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Face.imageg.net%252Fgraphics%252Fproduct_images%252FpACE3-5522825enh-z7.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.acehardware.com%252Fproduct%252Findex.jsp%253FproductId%253D3417636%3B435%3B435

Saw one of those Giant hornets in my yard once. It had a big ### cicada in its legs and flew off with it. Was pretty wild.

 

[Van Dyman]

Hard-earned bee advice:

Boring/carpenter bees look a lot like bumble bees, but with more black and they burrow into wood. They hover and dart around and are pretty scary but I've never heard of anyone getting stung buy one.

Sort of right. The ones that you see flying around are the males and they are hovering around the holes where the females are nesting.

You cut into that nest and disturb the ladies and they'll put a hurtin on you.

Sort of right. The ones hovering around checking you out are males, yes. They have a bright face (yellow or white) and NO STINGER. If you tick them off they will dive at you threateningly, but they can't sting.

The females (black face) can sting but they aren't agreessive and even avoid confrontation. You'd basically have to mess with their nest to get stung.

 

[SWC]

i am pretty sure bees are not immortal so yep still dying take that to the bank beechachos

 

[ScottNorwood]

i am pretty sure bees are not immortal so yep still dying take that to the bank beechachos

SWC - I don't think you understand. I started this thread in response to a news article that the bees were dying at an alarming rate and would soon go extinct. Here we are, years later and we still see a lot of bees around. I know bees, like all living things, will die. But my question was whether they're still dying at a fast rate, or if things are back to normal. I need to know whether I can stop worrying about bees. You feel me homeslice?

 

[Jayrod]

From what I read the other day, honeybees are the only ones really dying and they've been dying at a pace of about 25% per year.

They are supposed to be the most efficient pollinators, but the other varieties of bees appear to be picking up the slack so far.

 

[Foosball God]

Just found a couple of carpenter bees nests in my shed. Looks like that will be my job for tonight. Prayers welcome.

 

[Scoresman]

Just found a couple of carpenter bees nests in my shed. Looks like that will be my job for tonight. Prayers welcome.

Dont kill bees.

 

[Rayderr]

Just found a couple of carpenter bees nests in my shed. Looks like that will be my job for tonight. Prayers welcome.

You know who else was a carpenter bee? Beesus.

 

[Foosball God]

Just found a couple of carpenter bees nests in my shed. Looks like that will be my job for tonight. Prayers welcome.

You know who else was a carpenter bee? Beesus.

May he forgive the sins of his fellow bees. Amen.

 

[belljr]

Carpenter bees are just fat

 

[tom22406]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1GadTfGFvU

 

[eoMMan]

I cried when MaCaulay Calkin died from the bee stings. That really came out of no where.

 

[TheIronSheik]

Yup

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Saw one of those Giant hornets in my yard once. It had a big ### cicada in its legs and flew off with it. Was pretty wild.

Cicada Killers are cool. Was talking to a neighbor when one brought a cicada to a burrow right next to his sidewalk. He poured gas down the hole. :(

When he asked if he should light it, I said it's just like zombies. Do you want a flying ball of fire chasing you?

lol

 

[purplehaze67]

http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2015/06/03/honey-bee-mite-smell/28448139/

Key to honeybee loss? Mite's stink, MSU expert suggests

A Michigan State University researcher may have found the key to the infiltration and destruction of the nation's honeybee colonies.

It has to do with the invader's stink. Specifically, the now-infamous Varroa mite uses a chemical camouflage to match its body odor — or something close to it — to its honeybee host. It even fine-tunes the formula to mimic the subtle differences of smell among bees in individual colonies.

"Honeybees rely a lot of on chemical communications," said Zachary Huang, an MSU entomologist and lead author on a paper in the academic journal, Biology Letters, explaining the mite's ability to deceive.

Huang has been studying honeybees for about 30 years. They live in surprisingly complex, sophisticated colonies, he said.

Consider a honeybee that has been gathering nectar. Trying to enter the wrong hive can be deadly as she tries to get by the guard bees who will sniff out intruders.

"They can be bribed with a large load of nectar," Huang added. "If she comes with nothing, she probably will die."


And the Varroa mite?

About the size of a pinhead, the mite is believed to be a main reason for the collapse of the nation's honeybee population in recent years. But just how it infiltrated such socially complex, organized colonies was unclear. It was first known to use the Asian honeybee as host.

At Michigan State, researchers analyzed the chemical cloak of the mites, finding them surprisingly similar to bees.

In other words, the mite "tries to make itself smell like a bee," Huang said.

And moving from one colony to another means simply waiting for the opportunity. When bee colonies are dying — sometimes because of the mites — intruder bees steal the honey.

The stealthy mite hitches a ride on the intruder bee, entering a new colony undetected and settling into a hexagonal cell of a larvae. It then feeds on hemolymph, or bee blood, much like a tick attaches itself to a human or other mammal.

Just as devastating for the hive, the mites brings with it viruses, said Mike Risk, a long-time beekeeper and owner of Risk's Apiary and Honey House northeast of East Lansing.

"We're not only dealing with the blood-sucking mite, it's the viruses that it introduces," said Risk, whose bees produce more than 6,000 pounds of honey each year.

Huang's research could be part of a strategy of fighting the mite without harming the bee, said Risk, who also raises queen bees, which he hopes one day may be more resistant to the mites.

"The more we know, the better we're all going to be," he said.

 

[Bonfire]

I've met several people who say they have never been stung by any of the above...ever. Maybe its me, but it seems if you were never stung by any of these SOBs you were doing childhood wrong. I'd guess my lifetime sting total of ~25.

The worst was when I was about 7, was riding my Huffy, having just watched RAD (probably the best BMX racing movie produced in 1986) through an apartment complex. Went zooming underneath a concrete staircase and looked up just in time to see a giant hornet nest hanging down from underneath the steps directly in my path. Was able to turn my head just in time to not catch it in my teeth, but smacked it with the side of my head when one of the devils must have gotten pinned behind my ear. Reach up behind your earlobe at the soft spot where it attaches, that's where it went to town. I of course wiped out, but the bloody knee wasn't anything compared to that tender spot being assaulted by that winged demon.

 

[SWC]

i am pretty sure bees are not immortal so yep still dying take that to the bank beechachos

SWC - I don't think you understand. I started this thread in response to a news article that the bees were dying at an alarming rate and would soon go extinct. Here we are, years later and we still see a lot of bees around. I know bees, like all living things, will die. But my question was whether they're still dying at a fast rate, or if things are back to normal. I need to know whether I can stop worrying about bees. You feel me homeslice?

they are also not trying to make things other colors take that to the bank bromigo

 

[scifijon]

i am pretty sure bees are not immortal so yep still dying take that to the bank beechachos

SWC - I don't think you understand. I started this thread in response to a news article that the bees were dying at an alarming rate and would soon go extinct. Here we are, years later and we still see a lot of bees around. I know bees, like all living things, will die. But my question was whether they're still dying at a fast rate, or if things are back to normal. I need to know whether I can stop worrying about bees. You feel me homeslice?

they are also not trying to make things other colors take that to the bank bromigo

You ever see a bee wearing a tiedye teeshirt brocef?

... me neither.

 

[SWC]

i am pretty sure bees are not immortal so yep still dying take that to the bank beechachos

SWC - I don't think you understand. I started this thread in response to a news article that the bees were dying at an alarming rate and would soon go extinct. Here we are, years later and we still see a lot of bees around. I know bees, like all living things, will die. But my question was whether they're still dying at a fast rate, or if things are back to normal. I need to know whether I can stop worrying about bees. You feel me homeslice?

they are also not trying to make things other colors take that to the bank bromigo

You ever see a bee wearing a tiedye teeshirt brocef?

... me neither.

it would be pretty fn brohan path if they did tho bromigo you can indeed take that directly to the bank

 

[Rohn Jambo]

Yes, they are :(

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/05/150513093605.htm

 

[Tecumseh]

I wrote a short paper on this a couple of months ago. One of the problems that they are having is that many of the "green" pesticides are made with nicotinids, essentially a nicotine byproduct. The bees are getting hooked on the pesticides, and it's killing them, just like cigs do with people.

 

[SWC]

all right so i have been joking around a little bit but this is pretty serious what is the answer on this do we need to change what goes in to pesticides and if i put up some bee houses would that even help take that to the bank bromigos

 

[Rayderr]

Since the bees use the honey for their survival, should we perhaps stop harvesting the honey? At least wild harvesting?

 

[Van Dyman]

Saw one of those Giant hornets in my yard once. It had a big ### cicada in its legs and flew off with it. Was pretty wild.

Cicada Killers are cool. Was talking to a neighbor when one brought a cicada to a burrow right next to his sidewalk. He poured gas down the hole. :(

When he asked if he should light it, I said it's just like zombies. Do you want a flying ball of fire chasing you?

Cicada Killers are scary as hell. I'd want to kill that freaky monster, too. But I hate noisy cicadas even more so I'd probably let her live to hunt another day.

I caught a female velvet ant (bright red hairy wingless wasp) in my yard a few years back. I didn't know what it was but it was clearly a freaky monster. Those things don't die easily at all.

 

[Galileo]

American strain of foulbrood disease is wreaking havoc in South Africa: http://phys.org/news/2015-06-bees-sick-humans.html

 

[Nathan R. Jessep]

should we start hiding honey?

 

[Rayderr]

American strain of foulbrood disease is wreaking havoc in South Africa: http://phys.org/news/2015-06-bees-sick-humans.html

Americanized bees?

 

[Parrothead]

American strain of foulbrood disease is wreaking havoc in South Africa: http://phys.org/news/2015-06-bees-sick-humans.html

Americanized bees?

they are the ones who work half as much but eat double the honey

 

[SacramentoBob]

Technology and automation are even affecting the bees!

bzzz

 

[SacramentoBob]

First US bumblebee placed on endangered list.

https://goo.gl/Rjxdy3

 

[kface]

First US bumblebee placed on endangered list.

https://goo.gl/Rjxdy3

Don't worry Trump will have the squashed...can't let those pesky bees get in the way of economic progress