Missing Bees???

[cobblerdave]

Gudday
Talking to an old mate and he reminded my about an old ford zephyr we had rebuilt. Got the thing together in the car, started the motor, no oil pressure.
After pulling it out and pulling it down we found bits of rubber and silastic in the oil galleries off the oil filter.....sounds like the same culprit I recon... one of the solitairy types of bee for sure.

Regards Dave

[Pdiff]

I've never heard of bees eating plastic or rubber. Definitely not honey bees or other nectar feeders. They don't have the chewing mouth parts. Could be some type of carnivorous wasp or hornet. We have some here that will strip bark off of trees pretty efficiently. Grasshoppers, crickets, and termites will take on rubber too, though. It would be interesting to find out ... Some kind of Andromeda Strain insects out there ?

[Archena]

Maybe it's their version of carpenter bees?

[texassourdough]

Going back to my original post that started this thread...after several years of low bee populations this winter the number appears to be up dramatically. Scruffy looking wild bees rather than the tidy commercial ones but lots of them. Perhaps the decline in the US is ending as wild bees evolve to withstand the problem and repopulate???

Intersting!

[Archena]

Who're you callin' 'scruffy looking'?!



Yay, bees!

[Pdiff]

Are you talking locally? Too early to really tell here yet. My bees seem to be doing reasonable so far this winter, as it's been pretty mild until this week. Now they're under 2' of snow Still, bee populations have long been known to go up and down over the years. Undoubtedly, humans are doing something to influence that, but they are pretty tough little buggers. Around here, they have to often survive 7-9 months with no foraging. Pretty amazing that they can do that.

[Lburou]

In the military for many years with frequent moves, so have been without bees for 20 years. We made an apiary this Spring and have begun two be colonies of Italian/Carniolan honey bees. It should be an ideal site for the bees, we'll see.

[Lburou]

Originally Posted by Pdiff

Are you talking locally? Too early to really tell here yet. My bees seem to be doing reasonable so far this winter, as it's been pretty mild until this week. Now they're under 2' of snow Still, bee populations have long been known to go up and down over the years. Undoubtedly, humans are doing something to influence that, but they are pretty tough little buggers. Around here, they have to often survive 7-9 months with no foraging. Pretty amazing that they can do that.

Unfortunately, new and deadly pests have come to America. The small hive beetle and varroa mites have plaqued the bees the past few years along with some new viruses. It makes keeping bees a bit more of a challenge than when I first began in the 1970's. :-/

[Pdiff]

It is more challenging, but still doable. My bees are now going strong with the seasonal bloom proceeding. Others in my area had minimal losses as well, probably due to the mild winter.

The latest USDA report on the bee side of things indicates that while losses are still a problem, they are holding steady with the last few years. Specifically, losses from CCD appear unchanged and the main reason for declines are due to Varroa mite. Fortunately, I have little trouble with those as my bees are fairly isolated from others. SHB is not much of an issue here either.

Hoping things stay good here! Need to check them tomorrow, though, as they are probably getting that swarming urge by now. :-)

Pdiff

[Lburou]

Originally Posted by texassourdough

Going back to my original post that started this thread...after several years of low bee populations this winter the number appears to be up dramatically. Scruffy looking wild bees rather than the tidy commercial ones but lots of them. Perhaps the decline in the US is ending as wild bees evolve to withstand the problem and repopulate???

Intersting!

I've been watching our widflowers and have observed little pollinators I've never seen before (keep in mind I'm relatively new to this area). The honeybees are occasional visitors to the indian blankets, but the wasps, flies, beetles and moths are all over them. The jujubies are in full bloom and full of every manor of pollinator except the honeybees. I guess the bees have found something they prefer. WR to local pollination, it looks like the native pollinators are in good supply this year, now, my watermelons will be adequately pollinated.