idk if this is technically a question or a rant but yeah.
i love pollinators, bees, birds, all of them, for years my backyard has been a valuable pitstop for them, and in turn i get rewarded with delicious fruit and seeds for next year.
but recently with the rise of exurbs nearby, more of the surrounding environment is being replaced by houses or lawns, and im seeing less and less pollinators stopping by, especially bees. Where i live November is spring and it should be booming with life right now but i only see like 5 bees a day now its pretty sad. you know its bad when there are more house flies than bees in the garden.
Is there anything i can do about it or is it beyond my control?
We can all do something.
The problem is, we ALL need to do something
My efforts only matter so much when my nextdoor neighbor and others are spraying for "mosquitos" and dumping tons of pesticides on their turf grass.
Thankfully I had the opposite happen this year, all summer my raspberries were covered in bees. Even better, native bumblebees and carpenter bees, not European honeybees. I work in forestry and found more yellow jacket ground nests this year than I’ve ever found, especially near large patches of low bush blueberry (they’re not great pollinators they just like the nesting under them). There is not really a lot you can do to bring back bees once they’re gone other than getting some honeybees. They do like sweet smelling fruits so planting some more natives could help attract any nearby bees to your yard
Aw awesome
If you're in Aus, the verroa mite might be to blame. It's ripping through the bee population.
Only honeybees though
Verroa also affects native bees
It does? That stinks
I am reading that the verroa mites only affect honeybees. honeybees are quite detrimental to NA native ecosystems, so the mites are probably good to have.
Yes and no. The European honey bee is both an invasive pest, and critical to food production. The kill rate of this mite is high. Native bees aren't going to get around a 3000 tree cherry orchard.
Youre right, we would need to add substantial habitat near our crops
Aw what? I'd also noticed a european bee decline and was hoping the native pollinators would be able to help. I've seen a ton of those little hovering bees and blue banded bees this year.
It’s more of an indirect effect caused by high viral loads. But Yes, think about when the Covid shit was going around.
You may never have had it, but you still were affected by it.
I'm in New England, USA. All kinds of stuff pollinates plants. Moths, mosquitoes, birds, ants, it varies by bug and plant.
The professional botanists I know are all noticing a lack of all kinds of bugs. We used to need mosquito head nets, no more. At the same time, the woods are real quiet. There are no where near as many birds. The plants are producing fewer seeds.
I keep track of a certain wild or hide locally. This year lots of populations were missing.
There is no solution in your yard, it's a global problem. At the same time, I make an effort to do the right thing with several acres of meadows and 60 acres of woods I own.
The world ecosystem is complicated, we keep learning more, faster and faster. We have found that if you take out one part, it has unexpected impacts. It's like taking a random chip out of a desk top computer without knowing what it does.
Look to the United States for leadership in dealing with environmental collapse. Where that leadership leads matters. We are burning the library in Alexandria.
Personally I would NOT recommend the current US federal administration for advice or guidance about anything. 🍊🤡 You'll have to dig deeper than that, like universities or other non-federal research entities. Michigan State University and Cornell come to mind.
I believe that was their point, the current admin is "burning the library".
One thing to note: there are a bunch of reasons for variations in yearly/monthly/weekly insect population numbers. Quite often related to current weather/temperature and previous season population dynamics. Apart from that it's hard to assess this correctly without a standardized counting method or large scale data. In other words: it's not because you currently in a given week or have the impression you are seeing less bees that there in fact are less bees and that there is a downward trend over the years. On the other hand if I get you correctly the area of natural land around you is decreasing so it's obviously possible there are indeed less bees because of that.
Asking the question is already a really good start. There are things you can do and even if it doesn't help at least you tried. Which will also provide some peace of mind.
One aspect bascially comes down to spreading the word. For example if you're talking with neighbours and anything nature-related comes up gently steer towards the issue and talk about it. Even if they stop mowing only a part and/or turn it into whatever your local natural vegetation is, it's worth it. Or even if they don't do that they still might talk about what you said with others.
Another aspect is coming into contact with like-minded people: both to learn more and because it's easier to set things up in group. Search around if there aren't any groups volunteering for nature and go help there. Those are ideal occassions to talk with others, learn more and keep spirits up. The learning part is important: to be able to convince others you need a good and simple story. Not just 'bees are important'. So you need at least some basic knowledge and be able to explain the issue: why biodiversity is important, that even small natural areas help because they serve as stepstones etc. Or maybe you know these things already, even better then.
Next step is somewhat bigger but has more impact: possibly with the help of local or even national organizations set up campaigns. Doesn't have to be huge, but more people can be reached by using whatever communication channel reaches most people in your neighborhood so that's the way to go for more impact. For example in the village I live there's a monthly paper magazine still read by a lot of people. I've used it to announce lectures on how people can make their garden more valuable etc. Speakers for such lectures were remarkably easy to find: they also know the issues at hand and are also the people who want to take action.
Another possibilty, but migh be a lot harder: get the local government to change how they deal with public land. For example if they're constantly mowing stuff you might want to try to convince them to mow less such that more plants get the chance to flower. Of course that's only useful if stopping the mowing results in something with native plants. Otherwise that needs to be tackled first which might be harder to achieve but still not impossible. For example one of the last things I did here was simple yet effective: an old town square was being rebuilt, with extra open space reserved for plants. I saw the government was planning on a bunch of non-natives. I explained the pros and cons and by doing so talked them out of it, and instead they opted for suitable natives.
My backyard was bee city
https://preview.redd.it/aajc2iclw12g1.jpeg?width=2407&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5d0e5f0015e65ff50833687f7993f5ebf8a0148f
this past summer, thanks to sunflowers, herbs & zinnias.
Spring 2025 reported a 60% decline.
If the population doesn't bounce back we're doomed in less than 3 years with total population collapse.
2023-24 we're back to back 20% die off.
We ripped out a quarter of our yard this year and planted pollinators. Bees showed up immediately! Same day as planting. (Late August)
Installing native plants for your region makes a huge difference. Native plants, shrubs, and trees help provide the full life cycle habitat for many insects and help develop a healthy ecosystem. A water feature can also encourage and support more insect life cycles. Oh, and leave the leaves! If you have to keep your yard clear because of local ordinance, avoid mowing them - instead, rake or blow them into your garden as mulch, or just move em into a pile, so overwintering insects survive until spring.
There are no quick fixes, but think of it this way: The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.
Do what you can with the space you have. It's better than doing nothing, and I promise you'll see results in the long run! 💚
Not sure where you live - but we planted a lot of bee balm in our back yard. It grows like a weed, and we had at least four species that loved it. We scattered the seed pods all over our yard again at the end of September. Hopefully next year, we won't even be able to see what grass we have left in our backyard, and it will be a bee balm haven.
Editing to add (after reminded by my wife) that we also had sunflowers, elderflower, tulips, and a few other pollinator type plants. In addition to our veggies.
We only have 1/4 acre lot, but have converted our backyard into a semi-jungle of plants.
They will come
I’m in SE wisconsin in the states.
Nary a bee until an explosion in Mid July.
Opposite this year for us. I think it can be regional though!
I plant all these native plants and shrubs and what for? I'm in the dead center of a miserable suburban nightmare... Let's face it, everything has been extirpated ... And my neighbors make me sick when I try to tell them to get rid of their golf course looking property....
Anyhow, yes I don't see bees, nor any decent butterflies... The occasional migrant monarch, that's it...
35 years ago it was much different.
I am in my third year of converting my lawn in suburbia and have had a pretty good increase in species. I am up past 350 unique species. I really wonder where you are if not seeing anything. Is it a newer suburban development?
FWIW, I read an article a couple of months ago that scientists discovered that bees are actually starving, so they fed them something like sugar water (but probably more scienc-y) and the colony thrived. Sorry I didn't look up for a link, but I'm sure you can find it.
No No No! Why would you even post this without knowing what you think you are referring to? Was this on some social clip? Never take environmental advice from unvetted "creators".
My guess is that this would be about honey bees. Honey bees are not the bees we need to worry about. Do not feed any bees anything! They need nectar and pollen, from plants.
No no no! Why would you berate someone without making any effort whatsoever to verify? I read An article, not watched a tiktok.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c776kynn771o
Because this has to do with honeybees, just as I thought. I searched feeding, starving, and bees and got nothing. So rather than imply that bees (as in all bees) are starving and maybe they need to be fed. Specify.
If you haven't already, put out little "bee cups" or a shallow dish of water with pebbles in it for bees to drink from, put up "bee houses" for solitary bee species, and plant as many native wildflower species as you can.
Bee careful with bee houses. If not done right they can actually harm bees. Just like hummingbird and other feeders. Best to make real habitat they can choose from.
Got a mosquito Joe in the area?
We have Banned Round Up in my city. It jas made a huge impact on increasing bee population. Plant bee friendly plants and provide hiding spots . We planted a butterfly bush and we have increased the bees we see .