Bee..lieve It !

[silverhawk_usa]

While wandering around in the garden last night I came upon this. About "head high" from the ground, I am glad I didn't run into it.

At first it looked like they were enclosed in some type of sack, but it turned out to be just their wings in the tight group.

There was little movement at night, but I will see what they look like tomorrow. I hope they're not too aggressive. Anyone with any further info??

[silverhawk_usa]

OK, no replies. I at least expected some comment like "They are bees, you idiot"

I am hoping someone can tell me of the aggressiveness. Now they are just hanging on and not doing much of anything. The GF says due to the rain. She also says they make honey that is very expensive in the market. She says usually they fly away in the daytime and return in the evening.

I would like to know if they are worth keeping and extracting the honey later, how? Should I see about having them eradicated? I don't really want to just kill them. What type are they and what are their habits?

Don't let me down, I know the vast amount of TV knowledge that is out there.

[sbk]

Not sure what kind of bees they are but we get these all the time (they like our pumpkin bamboo grove) and have never had a problem with them. If you leave them there for awhile you can smoke them out and get the honey (or if you don't know how to do this but have a neighbor who knows how perhaps better to get him to do it )

[Crossy]

We have the same (or very similar) ones. They return to the same spot every year, and every year the Bee Man comes along with his smoker and removes the honey at which point the bees see sense and buzz-off. Only to forget and return next year

Never had any issues or stings and I've been really close to them. It's obvious they are aware as they move more urgently when they spot me, but they never seem to see me as a threat (the Bee Man is something else though).

[silverhawk_usa]

Thanks guys, that is the type of info I was hoping for. I'll just leave them alone (as long as they leave me alone) and see what happens. I'm sure some of my neighbors would be up for some fresh honey when the time comes.

[GarryP]

You'll need to smoke them when the comb that they are surrounding gets nearly full. Otherwise they will all gorge themselves on the honey when they swarm on to new pastures after a new queen. An alternative would be to smoke them and remove any queen cells. They will hang around much longer and increase the size of the comb and thus the amount of honey that can be harvested.

As to agressiveness, Asian bees tend to be quite even tempered. Just stay away when there are storms in the area. The bees will let you know as they will become more agitated. They can sense the change in the weather.

Swarms look very frightening with clouds of bees everywhere, however, when bees swarm they are usually so gorged with honey that they are unable to bend down their abdomen to get into a stinging position. So you can walk around in the swarm quite safely.

The only thing to remember is that quite a few people have allergies to bee stings and it can get quite nasty.