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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Knowing that I am a follower of bees, a friend sent me this excellent article:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://news.sciencemag.org/plants-animals/2015/05/new-white-house-pollinator-plan-gives-big-buzz-science?utm_campaign=email-news-latest&utm_src=email">http://news.sciencemag.org/plants-animals/2015/05/new-white-house-pollinator-plan-gives-big-buzz-science?utm_campaign=email-news-latest&utm_src=email</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Back story and an update: we had a group doing informal bee observations for several years. That project came to a sudden end in 2012 when the head of that project suffered a personal tragedy and signed off; the dataset was lost. Only a few days later, on New Year’s Day 2013 I saw the biggest mass bee death I had witnessed. I collected about 100 of the dead bees and attempted to dissect them for tracheal mites, but my skills proved insufficient, for I was unable to see anything with my home microscope. I saw no varroa mites either, or any obvious external distress such as tattered wings or indications of injury.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>In a typical season I see about 20-30 dead bees. I saw about 100 that one day. The spring 2014 bee season I saw far fewer bees than in any season before; I saw more Carpenter bees and bumblebees (and other minority pollinators) than I saw honeybees. That was the only season I witnessed that.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Update:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Now to this year: I see a puzzling paradox. I have seen more bees this spring than usual, perhaps a 1-sigma heavy bee season, but I have seen far more bee deaths this year than in any year for about the last 10. I have seen about 150 bees dead or dying this season. The pattern didn’t match the spring 2013 observation, where it was 100 bees all in one location at one time. This year I have noticed a lot of dead or dying bees, all in different places and times, where the ones still living appear too weak to fly. This suggests starvation, which is entirely possible considering the heavy population this year. In the dying or dead bees I have examined, I saw no indications of trauma or age-related distress.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>It isn’t clear what to think, but now I regret that no one (particularly me) got off his lazy butt and set up a website or something to collect observations, to step up when Queen Bee stood down. I suppose I can claim I have taken the first steps, by reserving a domain and viewing the HTML lectures on Khan Academy. So at least I now know how to set up a website, but haven’t done it yet, oy vey.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>spike<o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>