I have become increasingly concerned with the obvious decline of
pollinators.  We have been blaming varroa mites for loss of many honeybees,
but the collapse of other species is just as significant. My observations
this past week idicate that the situation is worse, much worse, that I ever
thought.
 
I did a 150 mile circle yesterday, looking at bee populations of all types
throughout sections of five counties, all heavily planted to cotton this
year.  I saw numerous insecticide applications being done during the peak
foraging times of the bees (a violation of label directions).  From 7 am to 4
pm, in areas, where three years ago there were abundant foragers of several
species of bees, there is nothing.  I looked at bloom from cotton, soybeans,
and a number of weeds.  There were a few wasps, some moths, an occasional
butterfly,  but I saw NOT A SINGLE bumblebee during the entire day, and ONLY
ONE solitary bee. This barrenness scares me.  Last month I was out of the
cotton growing area and in a watermelon and cantaloupe field I was able to
spot a couple hundred bees of at least 6 different species in five minutes.
 This is more normal.
 
    Honeybees were also totally absent, excepting near known hives, and were
still sparsely represented on the flowers, compared to past seasons.  These
bees (at hive entrances) were carrying identifiable pollen mostly from cotton
from before 7 am to noon.  A few were also carrying soybean, ironweed, and
other pollens, starting and finishing about an hour later.
 
  Are we eradicating our pollinators?
 
[log in to unmask]                          Dave Green
PO Box 1215, Hemingway,  SC   29554