Should I worry about these bees?

[branv]

Disclaimer: I am VERY aware of the dying off of honey bees, and I do not want to do anything to harm them. I am concerned, however, about the safety of small children and pets, and whether these are honey bees or africanized.

We have a crape myrtle in our back yard. Whenever it blooms, I have seen bees, etc hanging out. But when we came out to the yard this morning, there were so many in there you could hear the humming noise from over 10 feet away. Our tree is positively choked with blooms right now, and they are busy little...well...bees in there.

However, we have a small yard. And we share a fence line with 4 other homes that all have small yards. In other words, what happens in our yard, happens in their yard. Almost all have very small children and pets. A passing group of bees that will move on when the blossoms stop pollinating, I'm fine with. But with SO MANY bees in there, I'm worried at this point whether there is a hive. And, not being sure if these are "safe" bees.

We got fairly close to the tree and none came at us. In fact, they aren't even anywhere in the other side of our yard, despite our jalapenos and our tomatoes on that side having blossoms. So I'm hoping the lack of defensive response so far means they aren't africanized bees. But we really can't let a hive stay, and need to figure out if we need to call a beekeeper/relocater.

Man, I'm clueless. Does this many bees mean hive, or is it normal to see so many in a blooming tree? Help?

 

[wiigirl]

I would call a bee relocator. For a small fee they will come out and assess the situation. Even if he/she doesn't do anything atleast you will have peace of mind.

 

[mickeyboat]

Not an expert, but I have a story to share. DD's softball coach went into a wooded area to retrieve a ball, and found a swarm of bees. She does bee-keeping as a hobby, as do her in-laws. She called her husband to come and get the bees to bring back to their hives.

She explained to the girls that when a hive gets too large, a queen and about half the bees leave in a swarm to find another home. Her MIL said that half of her hive had just left earlier in the week, so she suspected they were her MIL's bees.

The DH broke off the branch and put it into a carboard box to transport home. He wore no protective clothing at all. The girls were concerned about being stung, but he told hem that when they are swarming around protecting their queen, they would not sting. He invited them to reach into the box. DD declined.

Cool, huh?

 

[Wishing on a star]

Unless there is a big hive, on your property....
I am not sure what you can do....

Since they seem to be fairly benign... just interested in the nectar, I wonder if you can get out and try see where they are coming from?

 

[mamacatnv]

There was a recent headline of a central Texas man attached by a swarm of "Africanized bee's" he died from over 3000 stings. This was in Moody, Texas in early June.

I would certainly call a bee expert since the activity seems to be growing and you have children and pets in such close proximity.

 

[wdwmom0f3]

I would call someone because I wouldn't want that many in my yard. It sounds kind of scary to me since I am allergic.

 

[EMom]

Not an expert, but I have a story to share. DD's softball coach went into a wooded area to retrieve a ball, and found a swarm of bees. She does bee-keeping as a hobby, as do her in-laws. She called her husband to come and get the bees to bring back to their hives.

She explained to the girls that when a hive gets too large, a queen and about half the bees leave in a swarm to find another home. Her MIL said that half of her hive had just left earlier in the week, so she suspected they were her MIL's bees.

The DH broke off the branch and put it into a carboard box to transport home. He wore no protective clothing at all. The girls were concerned about being stung, but he told hem that when they are swarming around protecting their queen, they would not sting. He invited them to reach into the box. DD declined.

Cool, huh?

Not cool. More idiotic. Asking kids to stick their hands into a mass of bees, without any awareness as to whether any of them are allergic, is lunacy. He may know a lot about bees, but apparently he knows less about anaphylactic shock. His "guarantee" that they would not sting is worthless.

 

[mickeyboat]

Not cool. More idiotic. Asking kids to stick their hands into a mass of bees, without any awareness as to whether any of them are allergic, is lunacy. He may know a lot about bees, but apparently he knows less about anaphylactic shock. His "guarantee" that they would not sting is worthless.

They knew that no one was allergic. They had the health forms of every child on the team, and inquired before they started messing with the swarm.

Here is some information about swarms.

http://entomology.unl.edu/beekpg/beeswarm.shtml

 

[Colleen27]

We have swarms of bees when the fruit trees are in bloom, and they just move on. No big deal - we have a ton of them for a couple-few weeks in the spring and then again later in the summer when the squash are in bloom. But the bloom on a crepe myrtle is pretty long, isn't it? Like months rather than days or weeks? In that case, I'd probably have someone out just to assess the situation and make sure they will in fact be moving along as the bloom fades.

 

[EMom]

They knew that no one was allergic. They had the health forms of every child on the team, and inquired before they started messing with the swarm.

Here is some information about swarms.

http://entomology.unl.edu/beekpg/beeswarm.shtml

Unless every single child has been stung by a bee, they are only aware of no KNOWN allergies. Even then, people can develop allergies to stings that escalate in severity with each progressive sting. Plenty of people die/have life threatening reactions who would have sworn they were not allergic to whatever caused that reaction.

If I filled out a form for my DD, I would not put down that she is allergic to bees. But since she has never been stung, I cannot swear that she isn't allergic. So while a form may not indicate a bee sting allergy, that does not mean the allergy does not exist. It's idiotic to gamble when the stakes are so high.

Can you see this going the other way? The man invites the kids to stick their hands in, one or two bees decide to sting and some kid who had an unknown allergy has a bad reaction or dies??? Then the man would be deserving of one of Bill Engvall's signs.

 

[branv]

Thanks for everyone's input! I think for the next week we'll take a wait and see attitude about it. We're in such a drought with watering restrictions that those blooms may not last very long (they've already started drooping/falling). If it's not better (or is worse!) after that time, I'll definitely call up some experts for their advice. Goodness knows I don't want them relocating inside my house walls

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Disclaimer: I am VERY aware of the dying off of honey bees, and I do not want to do anything to harm them. I am concerned, however, about the safety of small children and pets, and whether these are honey bees or africanized.

We have a crape myrtle in our back yard. Whenever it blooms, I have seen bees, etc hanging out. But when we came out to the yard this morning, there were so many in there you could hear the humming noise from over 10 feet away. Our tree is positively choked with blooms right now, and they are busy little...well...bees in there.

However, we have a small yard. And we share a fence line with 4 other homes that all have small yards. In other words, what happens in our yard, happens in their yard. Almost all have very small children and pets. A passing group of bees that will move on when the blossoms stop pollinating, I'm fine with. But with SO MANY bees in there, I'm worried at this point whether there is a hive. And, not being sure if these are "safe" bees.

We got fairly close to the tree and none came at us. In fact, they aren't even anywhere in the other side of our yard, despite our jalapenos and our tomatoes on that side having blossoms. So I'm hoping the lack of defensive response so far means they aren't africanized bees. But we really can't let a hive stay, and need to figure out if we need to call a beekeeper/relocater.

Man, I'm clueless. Does this many bees mean hive, or is it normal to see so many in a blooming tree? Help?

I would say normal.

Once the blooming is over get rid of the crape myrtle if you do not want to host a bee party every year.

The blooms, birds, and bugs are pretty heavy here in MO after the drought we had last yr.

I have been spraying, laying down diatomaceous earth, and setting slug beer traps in my gardens.

 

[gillep]

Disclaimer: I am VERY aware of the dying off of honey bees, and I do not want to do anything to harm them. I am concerned, however, about the safety of small children and pets, and whether these are honey bees or africanized.

We have a crape myrtle in our back yard. Whenever it blooms, I have seen bees, etc hanging out. But when we came out to the yard this morning, there were so many in there you could hear the humming noise from over 10 feet away. Our tree is positively choked with blooms right now, and they are busy little...well...bees in there.

However, we have a small yard. And we share a fence line with 4 other homes that all have small yards. In other words, what happens in our yard, happens in their yard. Almost all have very small children and pets. A passing group of bees that will move on when the blossoms stop pollinating, I'm fine with. But with SO MANY bees in there, I'm worried at this point whether there is a hive. And, not being sure if these are "safe" bees.

We got fairly close to the tree and none came at us. In fact, they aren't even anywhere in the other side of our yard, despite our jalapenos and our tomatoes on that side having blossoms. So I'm hoping the lack of defensive response so far means they aren't africanized bees. But we really can't let a hive stay, and need to figure out if we need to call a beekeeper/relocater.

Man, I'm clueless. Does this many bees mean hive, or is it normal to see so many in a blooming tree? Help?

wow your crepe myrtle is way behind mine lol!!! We live in a suburb just south of Houston and about 3 weeks ago this started in our crepe myrtle. It lasted about a week or so, at first I was a little concerned but I have to pass very close to it to take our dog for a walk as it is right next to our sidewalk, and none of the bees ever became concerned with us so I ignored them as well although it was still a bit disconcerting. If it were me I would wait and see.

 

[dyna]

Yep honey bees hives divide this time of year. And yes it is possible to break off a branch put it in cardboard box for temporary keeping.

I've also seen the bees in a big swarm inside the lid of the cardboard box an watched while my Daddy scraped the bees into the bee box with his bare hand....he was also shirtless an I was helping wearing halter top, shorts and was barefooted.

While the bees are swarming like that they not near as defensive as they are with a full box of honey in the fall.

ALWAYS REMEMBER THO WHEN STUNG THE HONEY BEE PUTS OUT A SCENT THAT ATTRACTS THE OTHER BEES TO YOU SO THEY CAN STING YOU TOO.

A honey bee can only sting once it looses it's stinger in the sting an dies.

Also killer bees or not 3,000 honey bees would prolly be enough to kill anyone anytime.

 

[SandrA9810]

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[tinkerbellandeeyor]

I know I will get flamed for this but my mom used to put on permission slips I was allergic to bee stings because every time I got near one I would faint from fear.

 

[Kies99]

I know I will get flamed for this but my mom used to put on permission slips I was allergic to bee stings because every time I got near one I would faint from fear.

You sound like my daughters! Their first reaction whenever a flying insect is around is to yell "BEE!!".

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

You sound like my daughters! Their first reaction whenever a flying insect is around is to yell "BEE!!".

No only when it was a bee my students sound like your daughters though

 

[FarmDisney]

I think there is some confusion about this being a swarm of bees or just many bees working the crepe myrtle. A swarm will mostly stick together and look like a big ball of bees. It will move on in a couple of days at the most. A beekeeper can easily come out and relocate a swarm. My daughter (13 years old) is a beekeeper, and I've been running her all over the county getting swarms the last couple of weeks.

If it's a mess of bees working the tree, I doubt there is much that can be done. The hive would have to be found, and if it's a feral colony - it's going to be very hard to relocate. If someone is raising bees near enough for the bees to work the tree, well, the bees are going to work the tree.

As far as swarms not stinging - generally, they are more docile than a colony in a hive box, but I have been stung by swarms on several occasions. Just this past Sunday, I was helping collect a swarm from a fence post and got stung three times on my right leg.

I love to see bees out working anything! Good luck and hope no one gets stung.