Bees - Where are they?!

[FB.]

We've had a wonderful spring this year, but despite weeks of calm, dry, warm, sunny weather, bees of any kind seem to be very scarce.
Various fruit trees all around me have recently been (and many still are) loaded with blossom - cherry, plum, pear, apple - but whereas in years past, the trees would be buzzing with hundreds of bees, there are almost no bees this year.
My garden has been designed around a year-round supply of bee-friendly plants - we've even allowed a few hundred dandelions to flower on the lawn at the moment - but this year, the bees seem to have disappeared.

To ensure a crop, I've resorted to hand-pollinating some of my fruit bushes because there are almost no bees!

The few bees that I am seeing seem to comprise roughly:

60% bumblebees - mostly queens, but the occasional worker is now appearing.
20% honey bees.
10% mason bees.
10% "other" bees.

[Nicos]

I think they're all over here on my cherry tree and the pear trees in the fields behind our house...there's a constant hum in the air at the moment!!...lovely!

[SarzWix]

There's at least 4 around my flowering currant in the back garden, and the ornamental cherry is attracting some interest too My apple trees aren't in flower yet though.

[Keith2202]

It is rather worrying:

Yorkshire Dales News: Where have all the bees gone?

I have had a few in my garden, no idea what sort they are though.

[Two_Sheds]

I've had loads on my Lotty, for weeks now. Bumbles first, then a couple of Red Tails, and a few honeybees too.
Most recently, hoverflies.

I grow lots and lots of Limnanthes in the autumn, which provide early spring nectar, and I leave a few weeds to flower (dandelion, dead nettle)

[selfraising]

I've had a lot of bumble bees in the garden and some honeybees also the odd hoverfly.

[seasprout]

Bees.

Had a good covering of assorted bees recently throughout the garden, bumbles, honeys and solitary types. I have recently installed one of those nesting tubes for red and blue solitary bees, no tenants as yet though.

I have sown lots of high nectar plants for the bees for summer.

[rogesse]

Where are all the bees? In my living room - I've had to evict 7 in the last 3 hours!

[Nippy]

They have all been in my kitchen I have been shuuushhhing them out the window for a past time.
Loads of Bumble bees in the garden.
It does seem a worry though that the honey bee is in decline, what is happening to this planet?

Oooh forgot to say we had a queen wasp in the shed yesterday. Hubby was quickly summoned to deal with it.

[Headfry]

I must admit we have had very good amounts of bees on our garden. We have many Hellebores and these are a great spring starter for bees of all sorts. We also have Ribes (flowering currants) these have been covered in bees.
FB. yes it is a worry! where are all the bees? some areas seem more troubled than others- we need a 'bee survey' like the hour long Bird survey that is done in winter! Lets hope they use the ten million pounds with care and thought.

[Sue]

I don't know if anyone else agrees but I've found the top bee attractants on my allotment are
no 1 Pulmonarias
no 2 Rosemary
no 3 PSB allowed to flower
my fruit tree blossom seems to come a very poor fourth!
Sue

[HayleyB]

I saved one that got caught in some web in the conservatory, it was a honey, my problem is/are the dogs - they love chasing and eating flies (good) but sadly bees too, poor bumbles are just too slow, the girls get told off etc but they still do it, instinct I think

[FB.]

As I've just added to another thread; my self-sterile, early-flowering apples growing as bushes received NO POLLINATION due to the bees. The only pollination was from my hand-pollinating of the central flower (I chose that one so as to be able to identify which one I pollinated).

My solitary bee nests stand completely unused, despite being used in previous years. My whitebeam and Rowan are in full flower, but get very little attention.
Almost all the the bees have disappeared. No solitary bees to be seen. No honey bees. Only the very occasional bumblebee.

Very sad - and rather frightening.

[coreopsis]

It's been raining last week but when the weather was good they all were buzzing around maple tree.It gives the same sound as standing under a pylon

[bobleponge]

I'm not suffering from a lack of bee's here, but was talking to some friends who have UK tv a few days ago, and they told me about a programme they watched, bee related. Something about all the bee's in the USA go to California to some almond orchard, and the numbers have dropped by 85% over recent years.
Cant use Iplayer over here due to license fee restrictions etc but sounded really interesting, and indeed worrying.