Have Bees?

I feel fortunate that my hive losses have been less than 20 percent.

Beekeepers reported the largest honey bee colony losses ever recorded in the US, and the $18 billion secret hidden inside every jar of honey reveals something almost no one expects Over 1.6 million honeybee colonies vanished in 2024–2025, threatening $18 billion in US crops. The hidden economic wonder inside every hive runs deeper than most people imagine.

I had the honor of being 1 of 4 Santa Clarita Purple Heart Veterans that were honored at an America 250 celebration at the VFW on Saturday.

In one of nature’s sweetest hidden moments, photographer Joe Neely discovered something most people never get to see: bees quietly settling in for the night inside the soft petals of globe mallow flowers. As the sun went down, the flowers became tiny bedrooms, each one holding a sleepy bee tucked safely inside. Then, in the most heart-melting part of the story, one last tired bee couldn’t find an empty bloom and crawled into a flower that was already occupied — and the other bee shifted over, making room. The two rested together in the center of the flower, appearing almost as if they were cuddling, their tiny legs close together while the petals surrounded them like a natural blanket. It’s a beautiful reminder that even the smallest creatures have quiet routines, safe places, and unexpectedly tender moments hidden all around us. Bees don’t just spend their lives working from flower to flower — some also sleep among the blooms they love, turning a simple flower into a soft, moonlit shelter for the night.

The homeowner thought the bees had only been there a "couple of months", ahh more like 1-2 years! We probably removed 50-60 pounds of bees and honeycomb.

Today's exciting bee challenge:

If you have a column on your front porch as an architectural accent, make sure there are no openings at the top being enough for bees to enter!

Another example on how highly intelligent bees are.

Scientists once trained bumblebees to do something that sounds almost impossible for an insect: pull a string to reach sugar water hidden beneath a plastic sheet. What made the experiment even more remarkable was what happened next. Other bees watched the demonstration, and many of them later figured out the task for themselves. More than 60 percent of the observer bees succeeded, showing that bumblebees were not just reacting by instinct, but learning from one another. This simple test revealed a surprising level of problem-solving and social learning in insects, proving that even tiny brains can observe, adapt, and pass knowledge through a group.

Another busy bee day, actually too busy.

Today's bee challenge: