It was happening again. Hundreds of tiny dead bee bodies littered my shared courtyard once more.
I had been watching the blossoms from the overhanging gum slowly appear and open. With the soft scent of gum blossom in the air, also came the steady drone of bees… and then they would fall.
All around me would lie dead or dying bees. I wasn’t surprised, this happened twice a year. Every time the gum would start to flower, the bees would drop, (Autumn and Spring without fail.)
This time I wanted to have more of an idea of why though. I posted the question to instagram and facebook, getting flooded with different ideas. So many possibilities people!
But which is it? What’s the reason behind my courtyard being a death pit for so many bees? (And I’m sure no one is spraying anything.)
It’s been happening for as long as we’ve lived here and that I’ve been paying attention. My three children have all been introduced to the sting of a bee from dead ones on the ground over different time frames, (and yes they can still sting when they are dead.)
We don’t run the gauntlet in bare feet when it’s blossoming season, as you really can’t go 30cm without another bee body.
So what are the most likely possibilities?
– The bees could be dying in flight, flying themselves to death, being such a concentrated area for the blossoms, they are just falling out of the sky?
– They are getting drunk (this Guardian article explains it a little further.)
I’m still not sure exactly what the cause of my bee problem is, but I’m working on it. So to be continued people.
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Now there is a huge array of bee knowledge out there in the internet community. Some of whom were suggested to me, in which I in turn will pass on. As really, knowledgable bee people, they are pretty damn important and we’re lucky to have them, (Aus only.)
cityhippyfarmgirl 