SnickeringBear

The biggest threat to honeybees long term is loss of forage. Most pollen collecting bees need a varied diet and that includes honeybees. So monoculture and Maize monoculture in particular is an issue.

The biggest short term threat is mis-use of pesticides and use of long lasting systemic pesticides in ways that bring them into contact with honeybees. There are no simple solutions to the pesticide issue, but long term, genetics hold the most promise. It turns out that most plants have wild relatives with genes to counter pests and diseases. We can take advantage of those genetics.

The best thing an individual can do is be aware of the impact pollinators have on our diet. 1/3 of the food we eat such as squash, watermelon, apples, pears, and cucumbers directly benefits from pollination. Another third of our food in one way or another relies on pollinators. If you drink milk, you know it comes from a cow. If you are a beekeeper, you know that alfalfa, clover, and other non-grass species rely on pollinators to produce seed. When you are an informed consumer, you know that the cow eats grain, alfalfa hay, and clover to produce milk. So where does the milk come from? A bee made it! (yes, I know it sounds wacky)

Support your local beekeeper. Find one in your area and purchase honey from him. It will amaze you how different natural honey is from that insipid heated filtered stuff sold in most stores.

I agree with your overall effort to promote mason bees, but have issues with some of the information you have posted. In particular, your posts about honeybees are apocalyptic which is far from true. While you appear to have some knowledge of mason bees, your knowledge of honeybees is rudimentary at best.

1. Colony Collapse Disorder can be triggered by multiple events. The more serious cases of CCD appear to be caused by a pathogen. Sterilizing the bee hives is effective at eliminating it from equipment. There are cases associated with pesticides, particularly neonicoteinoids, but they represent roughly 20% of the known cases to date. The pathogen is the elephant in the room.

2. Honeybees are not in danger of going away, and it is not a matter of money spent. When you put honeybees back into the environment they belong in, they thrive. I've been a beekeeper for 44 years and have kept my bees totally chemical free for the last 8 years. They have adapted to tracheal mites, varroa mites, and small hive beetles. There is a lot to be said for getting the right genetics and providing a healthy environment.

3. Blanket statements about hybrid plants not producing pollen are misleading and/or downright incorrect. Hybrid plants are mostly effective at producing pollen. The problem is monoculture. Think what you would do if you had to eat bread and water every single day for every single meal. This is what monoculture does to bees.

So put me down as glad you are promoting awareness of mason bees and other pollinators, but unimpressed with your knowledge or presentation about honeybees and flowering plants.

Mine was a lot less traumatic than yours. Got divorced. Applied for an apartment about a year later. Credit check came back with an overdue bill on a gas card. The apartment manager let me see the report. I immediately called the company (Chevron) and let them know it was a fraudulent account and requested that they send me a copy of the original signed application for the card. Once I saw the application, I realized it was my ex-wife who had requested a credit card in my name using my SSN and signing my name. That was enough evidence to put her in jail for fraud so she was forced to settle the account. Chevron removed the credit ding when I sent them a notarized statement that it was not my debt. Ex-wife did not go to jail, but only because the amount ($230) was low.

As for O.P. waffling about addressing the problem, may I point out that this woman, your grandmother, has an entitlement mentality and she will continue to do this until you put a stop to it. The only way to stop it is to report it to the police and shut it down at the source. I hope you realize that she is doing this to others too, not just you. The company losing money to a credit chintz passes that cost on to all of their customers. That means it hurts you and it hurts me and it hurts everyone reading this because the companies don't absorb these costs, they pass them on to paying customers. This is why we have fraud laws.

Have you photographed any rock art items that appeared to indicate extraterrestrial alien presence in the Sahara? I've seen a couple of photos that appear to show a spaceship. Have you seen any similar?

Anything that is not of a normal animals typically found in Africa, possibly animals that are extinct today?

The reason africanized bees exist is because selective breeding worked exactly as it should. A. M. Scutellata is very aggressive because it is attacked by bee eating birds, honey badgers, and bee hunting humans. Over the centuries, these bees became super aggressive because only the aggressive colonies survived. They also make migratory swarms to escape drought and have many more adaptations for their climate. As for africanized bees in north and south America, they were deliberately brought into south America to try to breed a better adapted tropical bee. Guess what? They are tropical bees and they adapted.