Where are the bees this year?

My backyard is a little piece of pollinator heaven.  I have tons of flowers, fruit and herb flowers of many types, not to mention the annual and perennials growing everywhere.   And every year I am blessed with an abundance of bees: bumblebees, honey bees, sweat bees, you name it, I had it.  But not this year.  This year, I have not seen one bee.  Not one--of any kind.  The hummingbirds are back, but not the bees.

I know that bees are becoming more and more endangered every day, but I was shocked at how still the air around all the flowers is this year.  Normally, it is "a blooming, buzzing, chaos," as William James says.  I am heavy hearted at this metamorphosis, and hope it begins to change as spring proceeds into summer.  So being the concerned citizen that I am, I called my local Department of Agriculture Conservation Service.

I explained the situation to the woman on the phone.  "I though, perhaps, this was something you keep track of." said I.  But I was wrong.  Apparently, no one is keeping track of the insect populations in individuals back yards.  Which I guess is okay, especially if your one of the folks who think government has no business prying  beyond your fence-line.  But I'm sort of concerned about the fact that nobody is taking account that these huge populations of bees have just disappeared.  It means the colony collapse disorder is spreading beyond professionally handled hives to wild hives, such as those of the bumble bees.  Or at least that's what I'm worried it means.

Maybe as spring flows into summer, the bees will come with the warmer weather.  However, we've had several very warm spells this past late winter and early spring.  Maybe just not enough yet.  If the bees happen to show up, I'll write about it.