Nothing scientific and I haven't been bee counting (bee's per hour) but with all the talk around hives collapsing I have noticed that over the last couple of years - less and less bees/wasps in my area of East Vancouver? I remember about 5 years back, every time we would BBQ in the back yard there would be about 5 wasps trying to snack on our food. My veggies are still producing a little fruit so there must be a few bee's buzzing around or maybe the ants are doing all the pollinating now.
I've been following beespeaker on Instagram and have often been surprised by the number of bees she finds in Vancouver (and where she finds them!).
It sounds like some of the beekeepers and bees in East Vancouver have been having a rough time this year. Strathcona Beekeepers
So sad loosing that bee resource - hopefully they will be able to rebuild. Sitting on my deck this year and if I think back I might be able to count physically seeing 10 furry honey bees on different dates and 4 wasp these last few weeks. I have lots of flower buds on my tomato plants, a few on my peppers and I am hopping for an army of bees to pollinate them.
In NW Burnaby, BC, honeybees have practically disappeared this year; and, to make matters worse, my mason bees laid very few eggs in their nest boxes. As a result, all of my early flowering fruit trees (cherries, plums, pears, and peaches) will have very small crops this year. I suspect that the cool, wet spring weather is mostly to blame; but it didn't seem much different from many past springs. Bumblebees, at least, have been reasonably visible; and the kiwi, blueberry, raspberry, strawberry, and apple crops look decent. It would be interesting to hear from others if they have noticed any declines in the local bee populations.
Same in Britain, severe declines in bees, wasps, butterflies, and most other insects. Over-use of pesticides in both agriculture and home gardens is likely the most important cause, but other factors may be significant too such as air pollution from traffic, and habitat loss through excessive civic 'tidiness' (e.g., mowing too often).
Update: Lately, in the last few weeks I have been seeing more fuzzy black and yellow bees on my deck and in the area. I spotted a house 3 streets down with 3 bee hive drawers in their garden but I didn't see any bees around. My tomato crops has so far converted 10% - 30% of its flowers to fruit but at a rate of 2 hot peppers, 1 green peppers I might as well buy those veggies from the supermarket. Maybe the colder winter and cold soggy spring knock things out of wack.
