Comments on: Our Bees Die After Corn Years

By: Nick

Nick — Sun, 18 Jul 2021 02:08:00 +0000

Are you checking for mites on your hives. The corn harvest sort of lines up with the mite population boom in my area.

By: Linda Meyer

Linda Meyer — Thu, 10 Jun 2021 20:16:40 +0000

That makes sense. The pesticides make us sick, so I’m sure it affects the bees. Our bees died last year, we live in farm country and it was a corn year! We ordered Italian bees from GA this year. So far they seem very healthy. I plant wildflowers and poppies every year, and we have 2 acres of clover. However, the GA bees are NOT on the clover or poppies. They are bringing pollen in, we just don’t know from where. I hope it’s not full of pesticides!

By: Rai Simonson

Rai Simonson — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 18:35:38 +0000

Hi,

I stumbled upon this post while reading articles in an attempt to figure out why we lost 2/3 of our hives this year. For the first time ever we planted a 15 x 15 plot of sweet corn about 20 yards from our bee hives. Our bees spent about 4 week pulling pollen out of the corn plants. We could taste the same “buttery” flavor, that you described, in our honey. And coincidentally we lost 2/3 of our hives. It is important to note that over that past five years we, and our bees, have been extremely blessed to have not lost a single hive until now. The only difference in the care and environment we have provided to bees has been this 15 x 15 plot of corn. We are small time backyard bee keepers and maintain 5 hives. I’m a little bit sick thinking that the corn I planted may have contributed to the demise of our bees.

By: rick wade

rick wade — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 02:59:57 +0000

hey, i’ve noted the honey bees dissappearing in central north carolina for 10 or more yrs now. its been concerning to me. I have an orchard and wanted to catch a wild swarm to put in the orchard, didnt know when i would find one for they are rare now. guess what my sister found a wild hive in a hollow tree in the woods in front of her house. i was going to attempt to catch the swarm this coming spring. So about june i’m goin to her house and notice the appx 50 acre field across the road planted in corn ( thats a big corn field for person co ) i told her document the bees were active healthy, they were. this past week i asked her about them she said they were gone. I think they died because of the corn. i suspected thats what would happen. They were wild you would think they could make it. the wild bee population has crashed here since i was in college say 1980. I dont know the corn killed em, but it smells. back in the day i knew of numerous wild hives that thrived in the same home for many years tks rick

By: vic Macdonald

vic Macdonald — Tue, 18 Feb 2020 20:21:46 +0000

GMO corn has a virus implant to control corn borer. The pollen your bees brought back to the hive would be used for brood rearing and as such allow the virus to attack your developing larvae which results in the demise of your colony.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Sun, 02 Feb 2020 01:54:56 +0000

To say that corn has no pollen is not enough. I have an open sack of corn chops on my porch and have been finding many bees mobbing it on warm days this month.
When bees go to bird seed feeders, it is not for pollen. Possibly protein, they will roll in the corn picking up dust. They also frequent corn silage in open piles. I certainly think everything related to insecticides or growth regulators is is even worse than we suspect, I don’t think it rules out a nutritional imbalance.

By: Marcia

Marcia — Thu, 30 Jan 2020 18:19:54 +0000

Insecticides and Pesticides used in farming corn?

By: Glenn

Glenn — Thu, 30 Jan 2020 15:59:36 +0000

I think your comment about being coincidental was right on the money! Bees generally do not forage in corn unless there is absolutely nothing else around, and if that is the case you should consider moving your hives. Even if the bees were foraging in the corn, the corn produces zero nectar, so there is no reason for the honey to smell or taste like corn. What you described as bees dying the second or third year after introduction is classical mite symptoms.

I’m in NE Indiana and by far my best hives are ones located adjacent to commercial corn fields. Since farmers started planting GMO corn there are virtually NO pesticide deaths since they really don’t need to use them because the plant makes it’s own (BT). Now if it was a farmer not using GMO corn or an organic farm I wouldn’t put my hive within 5 miles of the farm (pesticides used by organic farmers are as bad and often worse on bees than conventional ones).

By: Reed Chandler

Reed Chandler — Wed, 29 Jan 2020 02:41:42 +0000

I’m no expert, I have only had bees for 4 years, but I do have a farm background. I’m wondering if the bees are picking up pesticides from the corn that are not enough to kill them right away, but weaken the colony so they don’t make it through the winter.
A question that I would ask. Are you treating for mites? If your bees are carrying to high a mite load they can go into winter looking great, and the first cold spell hits, and they all die.
I don’t think It is the corn itself, but could be something related.

By: Karen Gitmez

Karen Gitmez — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 09:17:14 +0000

We got bees for the 1st time last yr.
I live in Turkey in an agricultural village . One of the farmer’s has a field next to us and one near by that he grows corn for his cows winter feed.
We also grew corn for our chickens to eat. We have not lost any bees but it is something I will watch out for.