Where are the bees?

Lavender with no bees

Its now July of 2024 and this summer has been the most unusual since I became passionate about bees in 2010. Despite the cold and wet weather, the noticeable absence of bees has been remarkable. I know this has been discussed extensively on social media, so I will focus on what I have personally observed in my garden and meadow.

Our ongoing research into which plants attract the most bees requires me to find a nice day each week when bees should be around and to count what I see on each plant in flower. Up till June, I struggled to find appropriate weather conditions, so bees were naturally low in numbers, but there were a few of each species I would expect: the queen bumblebees, then the early and carder bumblebee workers and the mason bees. Then, as we went into June, the rest of the species simply didn't seem to arrive. And worse, the bumblebees I had been seeing stopped, too. Honeybees were suddenly almost the only bees I could find. On one tour of the meadow, I didn't spot a single bumblebee and only a few honeybees. Eventually, now in July, a few more bees are around: the tiny scissor bees are there on the campanulas, and there are quite a few furrow bees, too. I have also seen a couple of leaf-cutters and wool carders too. But not a single buff-tailed bumblebee and no mining bees both of which should be plentiful by now.

The absence of buff-tailed bumblebees is the most surprising as they seem so big and resilient but I have to assume that after the queens initially emerged, they were unable to find sufficient food resources to enable them to establish viable colonies. Coupled with this I realise that I have also not seen any of their cuckoo speces, bombus vestalis, which would also suggest that the colonies failed.

The temperature remains low, with an average of 14 degrees compared to a more normal 18 degrees for July. Ironically, all this rain has made it a great year for the plants in the garden. Some are flowering a little later, but all appreciate the lack of drought that has marked the last three summers. With fewer pollinators, I have noticed that some have not been setting seeds very well. If you have tomatoes, you may notice gaps in the fruit along the flower stems.

Only time will tell if this is a trend or just a bad year.