Unexpected Guests

terrydowning · Post by **terrydowning** » Thu Oct 03, 2013 11:49 am

I got some unexpected visitors to my apricot tree last weekend.

LOML found it Saturday afternoon, they were gone on Sunday.
[ATTACH]22922[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH]22923[/ATTACH]
Just a small swarm looking for a new home.

ss50th · Post by **ss50th** » Fri Oct 04, 2013 12:46 pm

terrydowning wrote:I got some unexpected visitors to my apricot tree last weekend.

LOML found it Saturday afternoon, they were gone on Sunday.
[ATTACH]22922[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH]22923[/ATTACH]
Just a small swarm looking for a new home.

Hopefully you can find someone to come and get them for relocation instead of destroying them.

OOPS. Sorry, ....Didn't notice the sentence that they'd moved on.

curiousgeorge · Post by **curiousgeorge** » Fri Oct 04, 2013 1:43 pm

Your lucky they weren't Africanized.

joshh · Post by **joshh** » Fri Oct 04, 2013 1:48 pm

curiousgeorge wrote:Your lucky they weren't Africanized.

Or from china!

Did you see the news story yesterday about 42 people dying from a huge hornet swarm and hundreds in the hospital? Crazy...

dgale · Post by **dgale** » Sat Oct 05, 2013 12:16 am

joshh wrote:Or from china!

Did you see the news story yesterday about 42 people dying from a huge hornet swarm and hundreds in the hospital? Crazy...

Those are honey bees, not hornets...totally different critters with totally different MOs, diets, and temperaments. I am a bee keeper and would have been happy to collect the swarm if I didn't live at the opposite end of the state from you. Usually when bees cluster like that while swarming, they are hanging out temporarily while scout bees find a new home...occasionally, they will set up shop like that in a tree and start drawing out comb. Way too late in the year for a swarm to survive, at least around these parts...maybe with your warmer weather they might fare better but nectar sources are usually few and far between this time of year, so having not had a chance to build up suitable supply of honey before the fall/winter, not much chance of surviving without starvation in the coming months. A beekeeper who collects them could put them in a hive and feed them to keep them alive and multiplying through the winter.

BTW, when bees are clustered like that while swarming, they are at their most gentle and passive state - they are basically 100% about the queen. I've walked up to big swarm clusters and stuck my hand right through them to make people gasp, knowing that they will completely ignore me as long as I don't accidentally crush any of them in the process...this would cause them to release alarm pheromones which would trigger them to become more defensive. Honey bees are really fascinating critters.

dgale · Post by **dgale** » Sat Oct 05, 2013 12:19 am

I just noticed you said they were there one day and gone the next...as I suspected, this was just a temporary hang out spot to keep the queen warm, fed and protected while scouts went and found a new home...hopefully it's near a large assemblage of plants that flower during the fall/winter.

joshh · Post by **joshh** » Sat Oct 05, 2013 12:42 am

Cool stuff

Ever make a bee beard on yourself?

dgale · Post by **dgale** » Sat Oct 05, 2013 10:06 am

joshh wrote:Cool stuff

Ever make a bee beard on yourself?

No, can't say I have but it's basically the same thing as the bees are doing in that tree - they take a queen and put it on someone's chin and the bees come like a magnet and surround the queen to protect and care for her...as noted, they are incredibly docile during such clustering, so the act looks far more daunting that it really is. I'm not sure exactly how they get them off the person when finished...

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Sat Oct 05, 2013 12:47 pm

dgale wrote:No, can't say I have but it's basically the same thing as the bees are doing in that tree - they take a queen and put it on someone's chin and the bees come like a magnet and surround the queen to protect and care for her...as noted, they are incredibly docile during such clustering, so the act looks far more daunting that it really is. I'm not sure exactly how they get them off the person when finished...

Very carefully:rolleyes:!