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I am a licensed beekeeper in Illinois. Have been since 1976.
It's one of those things you don't tell everyone but why not?
I have a garden, yards I maintain, but no colonies of bees right now.

Something I noticed in the last decade or so is the disappearance of honeybees. I used to see them working flowers and trees often and it has gotten rare. Bumblebees and wasps seemingly have disappeared as well. I still see wild honebees that everyone calls "yellow jackets" but that is about all. I also see plenty of carpenter bees.

There are several theories on why...

One is neonicatinoid insecticides. I believe that these chemicals is the cause of colony collapse disorder.

Another thing I myself have observed is the disappearance of white clover from nearly every single lawn. My bees made the best honey from this yard "weed".
Nearly everyone is sold on the idea of fertilizing and killing the weeds in one easy step. This is what made the clover go away. Try NOT fertilizing your yard a season or two and see what happens. The fertilizer is high nitrogen which clover...can't stand.

My bees disappeared at about the same time CCD was discovered. It's expensive to get started again. I kinda miss having a few gallons of honey in the house.

Plenty of bees, wasps, dirt dobbers, yellow jackets, hornets, etc around here. Also my neighbor is a bee farmer. He has around 10 boxes. Always gives me some great honey. His bees feed in my orchard, wife's flower beds, and on wild flowers in the nearby pastures.

rebelp74 wrote:Plenty of bees, wasps, dirt dobbers, yellow jackets, hornets, etc around here. Also my neighbor is a bee farmer. He has around 10 boxes. Always gives me some great honey. His bees feed in my orchard, wife's flower beds, and on wild flowers in the nearby pastures.

We had zillions of asian beatles. An army of crop dusters took care of that.
I think they killed the bees too.

Are you a beekeeper or an apiarist?

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Eric Haynes wrote:Are you a beekeeper or an apiarist?

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No he's just crazy:)

I don't spray my yard to kill clover, dandelions, etc. With how hard my two labs are on the yard, I need what ground cover I can get. The only thing that gets sprayed is poison ivy when it pops up.

Bootlipkiller wrote:

Eric Haynes wrote:Are you a beekeeper or an apiarist?

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No he's just crazy:)

Are you a fan, or just a guy who follows me from thread to thread pointing out how irrational my posts are?
Get a life.

aunt betty wrote:

Bootlipkiller wrote:

Eric Haynes wrote:Are you a beekeeper or an apiarist?

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No he's just crazy:)

Are you a fan, or just a guy who follows me from thread to thread pointing out how irrational my posts are?
Get a life.

I was being serious.

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a·pi·a·rist (p--rst, -rst)
n.
One who keeps bees, specifically one who cares for and raises bees for commercial or agricultural purposes. Also called beekeeper.

Want to debate whether or not the source is accurate?

Right now I am neither ( or both) It's actually a 50/50 thing.
The State of Illinois refuses to admit it though. I have wrote them letters, filled out forms, until I'm done with them.
FUCK YOU

You are wayyy too easy. Apiarists here are the ones that raise bees commercially and usually we call beekeepers the small timers who only do under a couple hundred pounds a year. Mmost of their bees die every year. You must be a bee keeper

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I'm letting a buddy keep a couple dozen bee boxes out at my place. Free honey is a good thing.

GadwallGetter530 wrote:I'm letting a buddy keep a couple dozen bee boxes out at my place. Free honey is a good thing.

Considering the price of honey these days, thats a damned good deal!

GadwallGetter530 wrote:I'm letting a buddy keep a couple dozen bee boxes out at my place. Free honey is a good thing.

I agree. We used to keep several pounds of comb and a lot of quarts of honey for us to eat every year.
Bar-b-que sauce with lots of honey in it...mmmmm
I still have my extractor, smoker, and a few odds and ends but no hives, hive bodies etc.
To get back into the hobby isn't cheap.
You're lucky!