Re: bees and mites

westes (westes@usc.com)
Sat, 27 Jul 1996 12:21:38 -0900

There were quite a few bumble bees in the yard in spring. There
don't seem to be very many around now. I'm finding them dead on
the ground in numbers more consistent with late Fall.

We have a bumble bee hive in our fence. There's hardly any
activity coming out of it. Bumble Bees have used that fence for
the past eleven years.

I've seen ONE!! honney bee all year in our yard. When I was
little, I used to shoot them out of the air with water spray
bottles for fun (half the fun was not getting stung) they were so
numerous.

Are you in the South Bay Area? We had a fruit fly infestation here
about 10 years ago that was fought off with malathion, sprayed nightly
by airplanes. Having lived in this area for over 20 years, it was my
observation that the wild honey bee populations were completely wiped
out by the malathion, and they never really recovered. Our cherry tree,
which used to give us plentiful fruit every season, now rarely gives any
fruit at all. The honey bees went from plentiful to scarce literally
overnight, corresponding almost precisely to the spraying of the
malathion. 

--
Will Estes                                U.S. Computer
Internet: westes@usc.com                  P.O. Box 3150
                                          Saratoga, CA  95070-1150
                                          FAX: 408-446-1013