372
My bee hotel is well frequented (lemmy.world)
submitted 7 months ago by to c/dull_mens_club@lemmy.world
55 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

(Sound on for additional bee communication)

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 3 points 7 months ago (10 children)

Insect populations are down 90% since the 90s. Wordwide. That is multiple studies, it's true. Frogs are fucked too. Something(s) are fundamentally wrong, and herbicides are a big part of that.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 10 child comments
    •
  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago (7 children)

    My frogs are fucked - thanks to a visiting heron. No spawn, no idea if the adults have survived. I've had the pond for about ten years, and the frogs found it almost immediately. The heron visits started last year.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 7 child comments
    •
  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago (6 children)

    Most of the Frog decline is due to herbicides and other endocrine disruptors though, as low as several parts per billion in the water can wipe out frog populations, rendering them hermaphroditic and sterile. That said, I have large swamps around me that are completely absent to frogs, and it is in the State and National forest, there should not be that level of pollution to wipe them out, I was thinking about netting some tadpoles and introducing them there from nearby. Frogs make a huge difference in controlling mosquitoes, the tadpoles eat mosquito larvae.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 6 child comments
    •
  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago (3 children)

    No issues with mosquitos here in Scotland, lol. I had maybe a dozen very healthy frogs in my pond, with great piles of spawn every spring and tadpoles galore. Then one morning last year I opened my curtains to see a heron standing in the pond. It's been back again this month. I can't really cover the pond, because the frogs need to come and go. Several herons live along a nearby estuary, and I guess this one happened to spot my pond one sunny day.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
    •
  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago

    That tracks on the mosquitoes, mountainous areas drain too fast for them to proliferate like in the uppee midwest us here and our stagnant swamps.

    I have known people with like goldfish and coy ponds in their Gardens that have had herons stop by and clean them out.

    Maybe you could try a scarecrow or something.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    Might wanna check with the rangers and park authority. It would be better to do that as a well researched conservation project, rather than just moving a bunch of tadpoles from one pond to another.

    But it does sound like a noble effort, and kinda fun.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago

    The Rangers do not care, and the neighbors are all gun toting Hicks many of which shoot and poison everything on purpose. If it is nearby it's got to be a native or naturalized frog, I'm only talking about moving them like a mile or less. I would much prefer to be able to test the water to see what might be killing them but that's just not in the cards here.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    I've noticed a sharp decline in bee activity in my neighborhood in just the last few years. It's very sad. :(

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago

    I have gotten a bit of a Resurgence on my property since I got it a number of years ago. I had a handful of Monarch butterflies last year, the previous year I had one. I've moved my lawn once in 5 years and raked zero. But it is like 95% Woods.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent