Bee Survey

[onefinemess]

Where have they all gone?

I've seen two this year, and hardly any other flying insects either. It feels a little eerie, like the start of a disaster movie or something. I'm in the Southwest.

What's the Bee count where you are?

We've got some highly scented flowers in our garden and they've been very popular with the bees this last few weeks! One shrub is constant buzzing! Saw 5 on there one day last week. And we're in the process of growing a large patch of wild/bee friendly flowers at the bottom of the garden. 🐝 🌸

Loads here (SW England). We have a bee friendly garden as do next door - large patches of wild flowers, comfrey, red and white dead nettles, fuchsias are all things they love

I have loads - but my garden is planted for insects and I am a bee guardian, so I get new ones to hatch out every year

Plenty here too. Bee-friendly garden, organic farmland on 2 sides. A local beekeeper has beehives across the lane next to my house and says hers are doing ok. Apparently the smell of dandelions in the hive was overpowering in early May.

Great to hear that, I was beginning to worry that there were missing Bees everywhere.

According to DH the wet March weather reduced the number of bees out and about earlier in the spring, but numbers seem to have picked up again now.
I have to admit there’s some days my cotoneaster is humming with bees and other days when there’s only a handful. (Also SW).

Some here, but not very many so far. Weirdly there seems to be more flies around, after a few years of seeing hardly any.

Shit loads

Seriously there's a while Bush here that's basically buzzing when you walk past it

I plant for bees and insects and I've seen quite a few bees, but hardly any other insects, which is worrying as so many birds rely on them. The weather here is very cool though. I'm trying to feed the birds.

I'm in the NW - my garden has been alive with them for the past week! My French lavender have about ten on last night, and the buttercups all over the grass have been buzzing every evening. My English lavender is just budding purple now so not long until they're all over that as well!

A few bees where I am in Yorkshire but not as many as usual. We do have some enormous ones living in our block paving though.

We've had bees since the end of February! There are so many on the rhododendrons during the day that you can hear them inside the house!

We've got bee's (bumbles & honey mainly) but they were late arriving but so are the flowers to be fair.
Our biggest bee magnets the hardy geraniums are only just budding, usually we have masses this time of year.

Plenty of bees here, white-tailed bumblebees are nesting in my bird box, red-tailed mining bees have burrows in my borders, and yesterday I saw honey bees, ashy mining bees and bumblebees around the garden.

Plenty here, all sorts. Also more bugs as the windscreen is always needing cleaned.
South Scotland.

They were swarming here a couple of weeks ago, so many that neighbour called a bee person to come and remove them. However when I went out for a walk they were all over the village, clouds of them. So no there isn't a shortage of bees or any other insects from my observation and I live in a rural agricultural area where the farmers have sprayed crops.

I agree but at our apiary the bees are thriving and colonies are growing so they’re going somewhere to find pollen!