One more bit of not very scientific information. I was at the neighborhood organic market today and spoke with the honey guy. He said he’s lost half of his bees to CCD this year. His bees are raised organically, and the cultivation of GM crops is not very wide spread here (yet).
There hasn’t been a lot of information in the news here about this, at least that I’ve noticed. This is the only thing I’ve heard locally.
I have a small pear tree on my roof, and it didn’t set any fruit this year, apparently because there were no bees. At least I didn’t see any when the tree was in bloom.
I’ve seen lots of bumble bees but no other bees. Our trees seem to have been pollinated though so there must have been something doing the job.
Over here in Vancouver, Mason Bees are being suggested as an alternative, at least for the home garden. Do you know anything about this, and whether they would be good pollinators?