In the western burbs of Chicago, I’ve been noticing many more bees than in recent years. My Russian Sage especially - at any time it will have at least 10 big bumbly bees, and at least twice as many assorted other bees. I’ve also noticed more bees on golf courses and forest preserves. Quite a contrast to past years, over which bees had seemed to have been becoming fewer and fewer.
A quick google suggests that bee populations are up, and colony collapses are down. Anyone else noticing and enjoying this apparent upswing?
Also seeing many butterflies including (I think) a few more monarchs than in recent years.
Yes! I’m in northeastern Minnesota. I have a few Pee Gee Hydrangeas that have been loaded with bees this year. Never noticed that many in previous years. It’s a good sign.
In NC, and I’ve had at least ten times as many bees around my hummer feeders this year as I have in the last eight. I had to switch to another style that is more bee-resistant.
Here in Utah I have noticed more of an increase in wasps (non-yellow jacket wasps) than bees in the last two summers.
It is neat to see the wasps checking my corn for corn worm caterpillars all day long; they don’t seem to mind me at all when I’m in the garden.
I’m in Sacramento, and have seen a handful of bees buzzing about our garden this year. That’s not a lot, but it’s more than I remember from previous years, so I guess that’s a good sign.
Yes, I’m in NE Indiana and my hummingbird feeder has had a lot more bees this summer. I went out to check it earlier and there were about six bees clinging to the side of the feeder. I think it leaks a little and the bees were clustered around where it was leaking.
I’ve been watching the hummers battle the bees for the feeder. The hummers usually win but sometimes the bees gang up and chase the hummers off.
We’ve always had a good share of bumble bees and wasps here. The last couple years have seen a welcome upswing in honeybees - at least partly because we have neighbors who are keeping hives. Very happy to see them.
I have been thinking about starting a thread about honeybees because I have not seen a single one this year. Yellow jackets usually seem to outnumber honeybees 10 to 1 around here but this year I have seen zero honeybees. I am outside just as much. Same garden as usual. We do have what I call bumblebees, larger, black and yellow, fuzzy bees.
I live in New England and I haven’t seen very many bees this summer ,there is a dead one on my walkway . 
We had a field behind my condo and there were a lot of milkweeds growing there and monarchs eat milkweeds so I use to see a lot of butterflies . There is an horrible building there now so I haven’t seen anymore
monarchs . My city keep spraying for mosquitoes and a lot of open land is gone so there very little milkweeds and wild flowers around so I don’t expect to see very many monarchs in my city anymore . People just don’t seem to care about nature that much today !
Hmm, I’m in Chicago proper (near Midway) and to me it feels like I’ve seen very few bees.
Here in southern California, the flowers on all the Syagrus romanzoffiana (Queen) palms are loaded with bees. The flowers on the Phoenix roebelenii (Pygmy Date) palms are covered in bees, too.