The Bees have it.

[NEIndiana]

I was recently walking around with my camera, which is at least a weekly activity for me, and noticed just how many bees were around here this year as opposed to last year when we didn't have too many. They were the subjects of the photos.
At least last year, I had never gotten stung. Unfortunately, a wasp this year has made up that!

[Pburgh]

I have more bees than ever too!!! A wide variety of bees too!!

[NEIndiana]

I think I have more yellow jackets and hornets this year than I've ever had. The bumble bees are pretty abundant too, and HUGE this year. I think they are on steroids!

[greenasagourd]

That's good to hear considering bees recent demise due to colony collapse disorder & aggressive African bees. I also have had my fair share of bees this year. This spring I had a holly swarming with what looked like honey bees. There were so many I didn't dare walk too close for awhile.

Lovely photos Elaine!

[Daylilydayzed]

Normally my plum tree that came back from Hurricane Charley( came back from a piece of the root left in the ground when hubby chopped the downed tree up.) is covered with bees when it blooms. This year however, not a single bee was seen. How about sending my bees back home

[krandy21784]

Our area is also down significantly in the bee dept. I have two neighbors with hives and they are just now recovering from the very bad winter/spring. At least I havent been stung this year.

[matkin]

We have no Honey Bees here this year. A few Bumble Bees are around. The Sedum will bloom in a couple of weeks, and that usually brings in the bees, we shall see. I miss watching the Hummers run the Bees away from the feeder. We did not have our anual Whitefly infestation either. Hopefully the Asian Beetles will also be absent this year. This year has been the WORST year ever for my garden. Things did not grow well, and over the last month everything has died. We had a lot of rain and it was cool all spring and this summer. We only had one week when it was 90. The AC has been off most of the summer. It is kinda strange not to have anything to can or freeze. Well as the Chicago Cubs say, "there's always next year".

[Bird Lover]

Elaine, you're so good with that camera! I go maybe once a week looking around my yard for something new to get a picture of. I have seen a few bees, not as many as I'd like, but they're around. I have plenty of flowers in bloom, so they do hover around here & there. Boy, I sure hope the bees recover from the colony collapses, what would our gardens be without them?

[NEIndiana]

Pat, I'm thinking that with the decline in the past years of the bees, and with the weather being what it has been, gardening is now a hit and miss thing. I did not have the productivity I have had in the past when the bees were in abundance.
My 89 yr old MIL grows maters throughout the winter inside her house. She always has a plant and when I asked her how the heck they produced without bees, she told me to follow her. On her way into the room, she grabbed a Q-tip and proceeded to swipe it gently across each flower and polinated it herself. I can not imagine doing that with the large gardens that we all have. I'd buy stock in Q-tips first if it comes down to this. LOL
And thanks for compliment. I have always enjoyed photography and have tinkered with it for the past 15 years or so. I have not mastered fireworks shots though...grrrrr. I did manage to get some great shots while up in Alaska when I lived there, but most of that was just luck.

[lpalta]

Oh my, our garden is wonderful this year, but very few bees. Hopefully, next year. What we do have are a zillion Japanese beetles. They devoured my best rose bushes this year and a couple of trees. Any advice would be sooooo appreciated.