A fellow horty recently emailed me a link to the UVA newspaper that reported earlier this spring that pollution is reducing the fragrance in flowers. In turn they have linked the reduction in flower fragrance to the diminishing populations of bees.
Unfortunately, the diminishing bee populations are becoming more and more apparent to me in my own little urban garden. Plants like rosemary, blueberries and rhododendrons that have, in past years, been swarmed with bees are visited this year by just a few intermittent buzzing bees. And, this year the honeybees are almost completely absent. Bumblebees are still finding me as are hover flies, but even they are fewer in number. And, so far, not one bald faced hornet has shown his glowing white and black face to me.
Yes, our spring has been unseasonably cold and wet, but we have had many hot days. Too, my greenhouse door is often open, and pollenators tend to head for the heat and flowers in it. A few yellow jackets, many flies, a couple of bumble bees and some parasitic wasps have made it in, but so far no honeybees. (Yes, some get caught on sticky traps and others just get confused in the ceiling, which is how I have an idea of what comes in. When I can I help them find their way out.)
What are your observations about bees and other pollenators this year and in years past?
