Speaking of bees...

Dick2 · Jan 15, 2016

Didn't want to jump into Bill VA's post. Supposedly honey bees are not native to North America. The claim is that the early settlers brought in bees and they slowly migrated across the country to the west. Causes me to wonder if that claim is true. What other insects could have pollinated all the flowering plants that were growing wild back then?

I've read accounts of Indians opening honey trees, so did the writer have it all wrong?

Questions that I don't know the answers to.

casenut1 · Jan 15, 2016

Sounds like you read it on the internet, so it must be true.All kidding aside, I believe the honey bee was here long before white settlers and probily even the indians.

hd6gtom · Jan 15, 2016

they had a type of bee here but it is almost gone, We have many different breeds of bees, just like cattle or dogs. Most people around here use a cross between Carnolian and Italian bees. There are getting to be some Russian and Russian cross bees around here. Each breed of bee has its good points and not so good points. We had some little black German bees at one time- they made a lot of honey but were nasty. We used to buy our queen bees from texas, but with the invasion of the killer bees there we have stayed away from them.

JimS · Jan 15, 2016

What they brought was an Italian honeybee that had been bred for its productivity. There are many different types of native bees and pollinators but none that works as hard as the various domesticated honeybees.

mazemeister · Jan 15, 2016

the european honeybee is native to (drum roll) europe, not north america. there are thousands of native bees, most of which we know very little about.

Bret4207 · Jan 15, 2016

No, the honeybees we know today are not "native" to the New World. But, there are all sorts of native pollinators like Bumblebees, native small bees, butterflies and other insects and animals like some birds that help with pollination. The "if the honeybees die we will all stave!!!" cry was way over blown, not that I want anymore bee die off. We have a couple hives and I'd love to see a lot more honey bees. I'd also love to see more Bluebirds, Swallows, Meadowlarks, Cottontail Rabbits and Red Fox. The coyotes, hawks, pesticides and traffic volume make all that unlikely.

ohiojim · Jan 15, 2016

i always heard in school,...if there were no honey bees crops would fail,...i went for nearly 5 yrs. here once without seeing a single honey bee, never made a difference that i could tell...there was a small black wasp that was on all the bloom at that time

Ted in NE-OH · Jan 15, 2016

The winds can spread pollen .

L.Fure · Jan 15, 2016

I read that the domesticated honey bee, that was brought over from Europe, actually beat the Europeans across the North American continent. The bees that swarmed and left the Europeans hives kept on multiplying, and kept moving across the country. Whenever a swarm of wild bees were found it was thought that they had to be native.

Speaking of bees...

Dick2

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casenut1

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hd6gtom

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JimS

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mazemeister

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Bret4207

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ohiojim

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Ted in NE-OH

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L.Fure

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