Sunday, July 21, 2013

No bees, no butterflies


Whatever is killing off the bees has really hit us this year.  We love to have our flower beds and flowering bushes humming with bees and butterflies.  We have large beds of milkweed and salvia and many flowering bushes just to attract the honeybees and butterflies.  Last year our 2 acre meadow at the back of the property had hundreds of little butterflies and there were bees on all the salvia and bottlebrush bushes. But this year in late April or early May, they all just disappeared. Yesterday I saw one Monarch and two Gulf fritillaries and there are a few bumblebees on the salvia. I have no idea what happened to them but I miss their tiny humming presence. 

3 comments:

Hattie said...

People around here are taking up beekeeping. We have ample supplies of bees this year. I think this is what has to happen: If we want good supplies of bees, we will have to get into beekeeping.
A friend who does this says it isn't all that difficult, and you get honey, too.

Florence said...

My husband will be retiring next February and he is looking forward to bee keeping. I will post updates on the project.

Rambling Woods said...

Yes...pollinators and butterflies and bees are being hit hard. It is thought that the ever increasing use of pesticides and fungicides are either killing them outright or in the case of bees, making them more prone to other illnesses. They are on the decline and we need to wake up as it is taking a toll on us too.. Michelle