Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

This evening I was taking the dogs on their usual stroll around the neighborhood. I noticed something odd with this pine tree and decided to get a closer look. I would imgine the queen is being relocated or something of the sort? Any bee keepers in here wanna explain this?

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...Picture192.jpg
This was as close as I could get without getting lit up.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...Picture196.jpg

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

Wow!! Why do I have an urge to run up and hit that heap with a stick!!:D

Something tells me that would be very bad idea.

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

I've seen them swarm the ground before, but I have no clue what causes it.

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

Hive is dividing with a new queen.

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

Very cool :)
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Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

Nice photos Hal.

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

Greg, you sound a lot like me. The challenge of hitting it and hauling ass was too tempting growing up! Now that I'm 40, I'd just throw a stick at it. :)

Cool picture Hal. Keep your eye on it and report back what happens.

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

I went back and checked some references from when I kept bees. A better explanation than what I gave earlier is that the population outgrew its hive and the old queen and many of the workers and foragers have left the hive. This is a correction to my previous post where I stated that the swarm had a new queen. The workers will raise a new (virgin) queen from some special egg cells and by feeding the larvae special food (queen jelly). The first queen out if healthy will be allowed to sting and kill any remaining queen larvae. If the workers sense that the new queen is not 100 per cent, they will sting this queen to death and await the emergence of the next one. After the queen gains strength, she must make a mating flight where she flies high into the air and is pursued by the drones. One will catch the queen and mate with her and will promptly die. The queen only needs to mate once. The rest of the drones will die by winter and will only be replaced at the next hive division. Hope that this helps.

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

Good move, they fly at about 20 miles per hour. Can you run that fast? They also get very pissed if they sense that their queen is in danger. She is in the middle of that swarm being protected and kept warm by the bodies of all of the other bees in the swarm. They would all willingly die by stinging you to save the queen.:)

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

I'm with Rockestone...something tells me to throw something at it and run like hell. Must be the 12 year old still in me.

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

Very cool,leave it alone honey bees are disappearing.

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

The wonders of nature amaze me.

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

This sounds so much better than 10 months of ads for congressional and presidential elections....



I just pity the poor drone that would have to pursue Hillary or Pelosi. :pu

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

How about if this also worked in show business. The drone who had to catch Rosie O'Donnell would kill himself first.:D

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

Very cool! Thanks for the info! :tu

Thanks for the cool info as well! :tu

Every blueberry farm around me has tons of bee houses to help pollinate all the shrubs. We have a boat load of bees in these parts.

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

Who wants to start a human bee culture society?

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

Are those bees or hornets? I had a couple gigantic hornets flying around me the other day.. not kidding, they were at least 2-2.5" long. You could feel the wind when they flew by.

I guess they liked the smell of my Padilla Habano :D

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

Those are honey bees. Those giant wasps are probably cicada killers, also known as locust killers and are basically harmless and rarely sting. It is possible that they could be tarantula hawks but that would be very rare in your part of the country.

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

its makes me think of the aliens movies for some reason

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Rarely sting? Man I hope so, they were pretty intimidating!!

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

The ones who were acting in an aggressive manner can't sting, they are males. One suggestion that might help is not to walk on your lawn in bare feet. The wasps live in burrows and the best chance for getting stung is if you step on one of the females while she is emerging from the burrow after leaving food for the emerging young.

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

That's awesome, Hal--nice find & great photos!

Your post reminded me of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ncUANdbvlY

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

:r :r :r

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

I would definitely throw a rock at it.

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Unless you threw it from a moving closed vehicle, you would probably be stung to death.

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

This right here is what you should do with those bees

http://www.somethingawful.com/d/come...dmine/bees.php

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

HOLY CRAP those are the hornets!! Their sting can disolve human flesh! :O

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Just blow a little cigar smoke at 'em!!!:r

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That sounds like a challenge:ss

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Crap, now I understand, I think I used to date a Queen Bee :r:r:r

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

I checked them again today while walking the dogs.... They are still there in the same place? The formation shape has changed though.. Must be too cheap to pay rent and got kicked out. ;):r

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

The cool thing about the "swarm" is that you can walk right up to it with an empty super (those wooden boxes used in bee-keeping), gently rake the swarm around until you can spot the queen, easily brush her into the super, and the rest of the bees will follow her in. Put the lid on the super, and you have the start of a colony.

Hard to tell without a reference, but they look big enough to be Italian bees. If they were wild bees, probably wouldn't be able to get close enough for those photos. Italian bees tend to be very docile, even when in a swarm. Mainly, they are looking for a home. I've helped capture half a dozen swarms in the past, all but one without the need of protection other than a bee hood. The one exception was a wild bee swarm. They tend to be a little more excitable.

I would imagine that somewhere within a mile or so away, someone is missing a colony out of their hive! As a rule, you would keep a "queen excluder" between the layer of supers with the queen and the super with the exit slot. This keeps the queen inside the hive, and the colony around to serve her.

Maybe a good opportunity for you to take up a new hobby??

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

So, you wanna give it a go?:r

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

Sounds like fun. I have messed around with some bees in the past but it was all just helping out for me. An old friend of mine from back home had a nice little colony. I remember having to go to the USPS to pickup a large humming box. I had no idea you could order bees online and have them sent to you. (I would imagine a mean joke could be played somewhere with these capabilities.) When it arrived the queen was inside a little wooden box with two or three drones to keep her safe, etc. Looks like it would be a fun hobby.

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

Make sure you have an autoinjector of benadryl when you start messing with them.

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Sting allergies is why I gave up bee keeping. I still have an epi pen close by in the warm months.

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i knew benadril wasn't right, but my mind wouldn't tell me epi.:D And I am the guy that picks you up in the ambulance, scary aint it?

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

Maybe you can be room mates with Scott in the Gaytor Home for the Bewildered.:fu

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

Well maybe, but the GAYTOR part wouldn't work out too good. I hate the gaytors.:dance:

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

Ha ha ha! You must be referring to Scott who doesn't know his name? :r

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Yeah I forget mine sometimes too.:tu My selective hearing problem acts up a lot as well.

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

Bingo!:D

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was his namo

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My hearing is shot. It's always, HUH? Whhhhat?

My dad got some cool new digital hearing aids that work great for him. I don't think I'm old enough to make that purchase yet. :)

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

I agree, better to be deaf than wear something in your ears.:ss

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

What? (little Jon style) ;)

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

Huh?:r you gotta type louder.:tu

Re: Looks what I found while walking the dogs.
 

:fu2