It's almost July. I've seen exactly one honeybee this year. I've seen no lightning bugs at all. We have to remove these satanic globalists from power and hang them all. They are killing the planet and killing us. Comments?
I never saw one for years here, but didn't specifically look for them. Their mating season only lasts a couple of weeks. Then quite a few showed up in 2020. Or maybe because of lockdown I didn't have anything else to do but look around the yard. I've seen a few this year, but not as many as 2020. There used to be hundreds of them in our yard in Ohio when I was a kid. I don't think they like it in town so much because of all the night lights.
They like fresh water ponds and stagnant water to reproduce. Any summer night when I was younger we'd see many but after a rain we'd see even more. I think they are magical. I see gobble-de-gook explanations of what happened to the bees but nothing about fireflies. Chemicals used in farming are killing both, in my non-expert opinion. When I move into my new house I'm going to look into raising a few honey bees but you can't raise fireflies like that. Bumble bees, butterflies, moths and a tiny bee I've seen are doing the pollinating the honey bees used to do. With the honey bees scarce there aren't as many domestic plants flowering as there used to be, as a percentage anyway. It makes me angry.
Maybe it's not been hot/muggy enough yet. That's when they come out and light up. And that phase of their lives only lasts a few weeks. Here on the east coast, June & July are peak seasons. I read that the biggest causes of reduced populations are loss of habitat and light pollution. If you want to attract them, one article said to let your grass grow long and add a pond. Regarding raising bees...check out Craigslist. There are folks that will sell you the "nucs" (nucleus) and help you get set up and maintained. They are more into helping the population grow than they are into making money.
I should have said 'producing' instead of 'flowering'. The plants flower but don't get pollinated. From last year's garden:
I hadn't thought of Craigslist. Thanks, dood. Another creature I don't see much of anymore are dragons.
Look around and see all the lush, green and weed free lawns in your town due to chemical treatment. Nature and poisons don't get long.
We just started seeing them here (in Maryland). I love watching them, not sure why but it is a very calming, beautiful thing to me. Hard to believe that, at my age, I might only see this time of year a handful more times. I think about that a lot, the things we experience for the last time and maybe never even know it.
Stop by any elementary school. I hear they are a routine attraction there. Just like bees, they only have queens.
One night, in the Blue Ridge after a rainstorm, the trees were filled with fireflies. It's like they were strung with fairy lights. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. There are also the blue fireflies there, that, I think, don't appear anywhere else.
I'm in Maryland too, Thomas. I'm one of those hicks from the Eastern Shore. You're exactly right - they are calming and magical. It's not coming from any inner wellspring of wisdom or spiritual depth but I never feared death as much as I see others fear it. I do fear incapacity and helplessness. The older I get the more I pray and give thanks for all I have including my health. If I'm seeing things for the last time, well, that's cool with me.
John, that joke might have above some people's heads. I'm not even sure I get it. If I am getting it you have a pretty dirty mind. I like that.