Borage does not spread like mint. It has a single main root that shoots down. The issue is it flowers a lot and its seed are highly viable. I bought a packet of seeds about 3 years ago. I planted 4 seeds in the first spot. Each one sprouted. In that same spot now there is... a lot over 20 maybe. Im going to pull some of the young shoots out and give them to the bunny or birds. If you decide later on you dont want them, you can treat them just like normal weeds and eventually they will dissappear. Its not hard to pull them out either. Unless you let them grow to 1.5 meters. Which we did when had pigs.

I used to just eat the flowers straight from the plant. We usually use them in salads along with all the leaves. Many people say they dont like the older leaves because they are prickly, but you just beat them a bit and add oil and youre fine. Also pulls out tonnes of nutrients out of the soil. We throw it all over the non main garden beds.

If it isnt pesticides keeping your bees away, you could try borage. In Australia it is the highest pollinating flower that we use to keep bees around. You can also eat the whole plant. Its actually a really powerful plant, look it up, but once you get it you usually keep it forever.

Do you have a source of fresh water around?

If not, try to leave some water out to attract a hive in the area. If you have a pool, that's even better, for some reason, bees love the smell of chlorine and flock to areas overlooking the pools I manage.

Thank you, sincerely.

Neighbors are best solved with high fences, I'm afraid. Other than that try to make friends and impress on them how much a naturally sustaining habitat means to you and you are more than willing to help if they need it.

I did forget to mention the bat houses here. Our neighbors across the way have them as legacy from the previous owners. I cleared a meadow space on our land across the stream from the house and on warm summer nights they turn circles, wheeling and dancing above our heads as we sit in lounges, hush and smiling toward the sky, admiring their moth and mosquito chases. It seems that my clearing has given them a spot where their echo location leaves the insects lain bare, with no danger of tree limb obstacles. It's glorious to witness.

Are you looking for bumble bees? Bumble bees are solitary dwellers that live under ground in small holes in lawns.

Depending on how lawns are being treated bumble bees can completely disappear. I've never noticed real genuine bees around where I am and bumble bees are the real workers.

So the issues isn't colony collapse but their very own personal collapse from whole lawn treatment becoming a thing.

Check your neighbors. Some of them maybe unaware and using some bad pesticides. On that note check your state laws in my state use of a pesticide in a manner that has an adverse effect on the bees is against the law. We have a similar problem only I suspect it's our neighbors and it has cost us bats, swallows, lizards and night hawks. Now we get swarmed with katydids each year and the neighbor panic over it. When I was young and there were no neighbors there was no problem with any insects except the occasional yellow jacket and the fruit flies from the orchids which don't use pesticides.The sky in the day time was full of swallows, every other rock had a lizard or two and we have a lot of rocks. Then at dusk bats and nighthawks filled the sky and I mean hundreds of bats and several pairs of nighthawks. Now they are almost all gone and we got lots of bugs. I honestly do not understand why city folk move to the country and then turn it into the city with their pesticides and stupidity. What I need is a spray that repels city minded neighbors.

Sorry, citizen, you'll have to pollinate your flowers yourself.

What kind?

I have carpenter bees (those fuckers) and they look like that, but not "fuzzy".

Saw a honey bee less than an hour ago buzzing around the clover in my yard. Not trying to rub your face in it, just was odd that I noticed it then came in here and saw this thread.

Nicotine is the culprit and a known primary cause of colony collapse. It's a cheap way to create pesticides because the tobacco industry has so much waste to create the clean and perfect product the world prizes. Round up and the like was banned from our estate a decade ago and though we suffer the spring dandelions we have our bees back and many other helpful insects.

We control our mosquito and wasp populations via natural methods. We feed grain to house sparrows through the spring and summer with seed and grain through the fall and winter. We ground broadcast randomly during insect season to keep them searching for the grain and by being protein deficient they seek any and all crawling and flying insects.

Our native flock has upwards of 70 individuals and even some corvids have joined the flock to clear our greenery of pests. Funny thing is they avoid bees and bumblebees, while feast on wasps. Another near side effect is they (birds) watch everything we do and seem to have figured out we bring their food in the cars and have never relieved themselves on them after the first generation. Spotless cars and nice chirping and singing all year long.

The red tail hawks take a few sparrows in fall and winter, but once the barn swallows return they get driven away quickly. I'm no tree hugger, we've chainsaws and lots of self felled firewood, but giving birds and plants a break from chemicals to make our grounds look like a golf course has been a godsend for the property. No more being driven inside by mosquitos in the evening and no more fighting wasps away from outdoor meals with fruit or sweets on display. Our Tomcat has even figured out that these birds are not food. He just spaces out from his window perch like a topless bar bouncer who's seen so many titties he barely notices them anymore.

My friend once told me that bees need like 4000 flowers/day to keep a colony going but idk how true that is. If that's true it could have easily been a colony thats like way on the other side of your neighborhood. Get your own bee hive in the back yard, I think its only like 500$ to set it up everything included plus you get the honey and stuff. Also the joy of the bees stinging all your neigbours and their pets giving you free reign during daylight hours without shit barking at you and staring at your balls as you sunbathe.

That sucks, bro.

However, i did read some shit earlier about bee colony collapse. And basically the honeybees are safe (at present). It's other, lesser-known varieties/species of bees that are dying off.

You still might be getting fucked by that spraying service, but just wanted to say I dont think it's colony collapse. Silver lining and all that. :)