Bees!

June 10, 2008 7:36 PM

What does the hive mind know about these bees?

This clump of bees has appeared in the dogwood in my yard (northeastern Kansas, USA). I've been working in the yard a lot the past few days, and I'm fairly confident they weren't there a couple days ago when I was weeding the area around the tree. I can't see any hive structure. It looks like a solid clump of bees. It's about a foot long where it touches the branch, and hangs down about 5 inches. Can bees appear that fast? Are they migrating, or building a hive? I haven't had bees in my yard in any significant numbers before.

I'm not concerned about their presence, nor do I want advice on how to get rid of them. My yard is big, I'm content to let them do their thing, I just want to know what that thing is.

posted by donnagirl to Science & Nature (20 answers total)

Probably a new queen's swarm, out looking for a place to build.
posted by Dipsomaniac at 7:40 PM on June 10, 2008

They're looking for a good spot to build a hive. Swarming.
posted by Liosliath at 7:42 PM on June 10, 2008

Best answer: They are swarming. You can call a beekeeper and there is a good chance they will come and get rid of your bees for you because they can keep the queen and start their own hive.
posted by jessamyn at 7:45 PM on June 10, 2008

You stay the hell away from that, by the way. They won't stay there; eventually they'll move on. But in the mean time, there's a queen in the middle of that lot, and the workers will aggressively defend her.
posted by Class Goat at 7:51 PM on June 10, 2008

DIY beehive
posted by hortense at 7:51 PM on June 10, 2008

Best answer: Class Goat, I don't think that's true. Putting aside my personal experiences with bee swarms - just a couple around my family's house, and they were calm - the wiki article directly contradicts your claim of aggressiveness. So do other sources:

Bee swarms are not aggressive. If you find a swarm of honeybees on or near your property, don't worry! (Washington State Beekeepers Association)

Swarming bees are not normally aggressive and can, in most cases, be approached safely. (Texas AgriLife Extension)

I mean, don't freak the poor lady out. She shouldn't go poke the swarm with a stick, I give you that.
posted by Liosliath at 8:13 PM on June 10, 2008

They could be Africanized.

(Actually, if they were she'd already know it, wouldn't she?)
posted by Class Goat at 8:16 PM on June 10, 2008

Response by poster: I promise not to poke it with a stick! I was pretty close taking those photos, though, and I don't freak out easily, especially about nature. The bees not clinging to the other bees were flying in a really lazy fashion, and seemed almost sleepy. It was almost dark when I found it; I'll see if they seem more riled up in the morning.
posted by donnagirl at 8:30 PM on June 10, 2008

Best answer: Yeah, I looked that up too. The latest news article was kind of ominous.

Killer bees getting closer to Kansas

The article recommends calling a beekeeper whenever you see a swarm.
posted by Liosliath at 8:33 PM on June 10, 2008

Er, maybe look at how "riled up" they are with binoculars? I checked out the swarms that I saw from what I thought was a safe distance of about 10 feet away, for only a few minutes - said "Oooo cool!" and then booked it out of the vicinity.
posted by Liosliath at 8:35 PM on June 10, 2008

Response by poster: OK, I found a list of swarm catchers in my area and I'll call tomorrow to have someone come take a look. That article is from Wichita, which is significantly south of here, so I'm not too worried about a scary Africanized swarm. Thanks, everyone!
posted by donnagirl at 8:54 PM on June 10, 2008

I saw a swarm like that in Kansas City just a few weeks ago. I grew up in northeastern Kansas, USA, myself (though I'm guessing a bit more east then you...) and I'd never seen a swarm around here, before.
posted by cosmonaught at 9:25 PM on June 10, 2008

Get a box for them? You got a whole bunch of free bees there girl! (Someone out there will be mighty pissed... "Great half of my bees have fucked off somewhere," throws hat on the ground.)
I'm really allergic but Bees are still cool because fresh honey is really really good! There's nothing better than just chomping on honeycomb. (A napkin will make spitting out the wax a little classier...)
And happy bees means happy trees - and who doesn't want that! :)
posted by mu~ha~ha~ha~har at 1:00 AM on June 11, 2008

Africanized swarms are aggressive, European swarms are not. If you've ever thought about getting into beekeeping, this is a pretty good opportunity. Find a local place to get a hive and just drop them in. Beekeeping is really the lazy man's hobby. You do maybe 2 hours worth of work per year and you're rewarded with sweet, delicious honey.
posted by electroboy at 6:44 AM on June 11, 2008

Umm, you've never been a beekeeper, have you Electroboy? It takes significantly more than 2 hours a year to keep bees. I've never seen a lazy beekeeper. In fact, most of them that I have known have been as busy as, well, a bee!
posted by eaglehound at 7:01 AM on June 11, 2008

Umm, you've never been a beekeeper, have you Electroboy? It takes significantly more than 2 hours a year to keep bees.

If it takes you much more than 2 hours, you're fucking with them too much and damaging the health of your hive. You can open it up and root around in there all you want, but you're not doing your bees any good. But since you're the expert, why don't you explain exactly how much I don't know about my hive.
posted by electroboy at 7:36 AM on June 11, 2008

Mod note: please take bee sidebuzz to email or metatalk, thanks.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:38 AM on June 11, 2008

Response by poster: Hey! Don't fight in my happy bee thread! Just an update, a swarm catcher is coming by later today to collect them. I described it to him, and he called it a "small" swarm, maybe 5000-8000 bees.
posted by donnagirl at 9:32 AM on June 11, 2008

That's small? Hah! :) Can you tell us later how he collects them? Seems like it would be quite a specialized operation. Is he charging you for coming out?
posted by Liosliath at 2:53 PM on June 11, 2008

It's not very complicated. The guy wears a body suit, for safety. He slips a big plastic bag over the swarm, ties it off around the branch, and then cuts the branch off and carries it away. (Or so I've been told.)

I don't think there's any safe way to do it that doesn't involve cutting off the branch.
posted by Class Goat at 4:59 PM on June 11, 2008