Yakima, WA on Apr 08, 2012

A little side note...these are pictures of a tree in our back yard, a swarm of bees moved out of their hive,

As I understand it, they took their queen with them and hunkered down in our tree for the night.

A "beeman" was called and he dressed all in white, evidently white doesn't upset the bees. Very gently he moved the majority of them into a box he brought, and said by morning every bee would be in there. And he was right except for maybe 2 lost souls. He took the box and away they went to a new home. He said there were probably 30, 000 bees in this swarm, when they get too numerous, they split, and swarm elsewhere.The original swarm will have 3 or so new queens "born? and the first born will eliminate the others. The tree was humming, very exciting but weird, I have never seen anything like this. Awesome. We stood out there a long time watching and they never bothered us.

Actually this was about 4-5 years ago, I was looking for some "good" pictures of my garden and ran across this! So I am sharing.

39 Comments Displaying 25 of 39 comments | See Previous

Joan K Roselle, IL

Wow. Thanks for sharing this.

on Apr 09, 2012 · Like 0
Christiane S Marble Falls, TX

Looks like bees are alive and well in your area.

on Apr 09, 2012 · Like 0
Lee W Canaan, NH

Honey and Cinnamon on toast, helps reduce cholorestrol from your system. I have it almost every morning for breakfast. Honey is good for the diet.

on Apr 09, 2012 · Like 0
Bernice H Yakima, WA

@Joan, you're welcome. I love Hometalk, I learn so much!
@Christiane, yes they seem to be , so far.

on Apr 09, 2012 · Like 0
April K Woolwich, ME

I love Honey bees and currently studied them!! They r amaizing to watch And even hold if ur still enough!!!

on Apr 09, 2012 · Like 0
Bernice H Yakima, WA

Is it true honey never spoils? And it is a natural preservative? dunno know.

on Apr 09, 2012 · Like 0
Nina T Royersford, PA

So we do have healthy bees alive and well...so cool love it! Now I must google "how" bees in America are doing these days?? Didn't I read we were short on bees?

on Apr 09, 2012 · Like 0
Marcia K Adams, WI

My husband and I have been raising bees for about 5 years now and have caught a few swarms like that. Bees are desperately in danger all across the United States and there is no definitive reason why they are dying off. Thank you so much for calling someone who could keep the hive alive. Honey bees are not 'vicious' except when they are being threatened. Everyone needs to help however they can. Watch "The Bee Movie" if you want to know how important they are to OUR survival! Thanks again!

on Apr 09, 2012 · Like 0
Sherrie S Debary, FL

Marcia K, I hear about bee problems/sickness/death from my friends with bee hives. People don't understand the importance of these bees. Without them there would be few foods, flowers, plants. I'm just learning because of my friend with hives.

on Apr 09, 2012 · Like 0
Becky H Tampa, FL

That is simply inspiring!!

on Apr 09, 2012 · Like 0
Patricia W Somersworth, NH

It is inspiring! I've been so worried about the bees and what is going on with them and this warms my heart to see so many. We still need to find out what is causing their decline and I hope the scientist are working very hard on this.

on Apr 10, 2012 · Like 0
Rhonda M South Williamson, KY

I used to play with bees as a child in KY and loved them. There was a blight that came thru that killed them all out. I remember well shooting a limb out of a tree and having the hive underneath to catch them.

on Apr 10, 2012 · Like 1
Ruth P Washington, DC

I think they just recently found out that it was a pesticide that was killing them.

on Apr 10, 2012 · Like 1
Paul M Fairburn, GA

It has never been determined that it is a pesticide doing the damage.
"Honeybees have been dropping like flies for the past half decade, and the mass-death has been confusing the hell out of scientists. Was it because of cell phones? No.
Military scientists and entomologists (basically bug scientists) have teamed up to discover that it's a combination of a fungus and a virus, a sort of kick ass one-two punch that knocks bees ...»
down for the count."
Source:
http://gizmodo.com/5660011/the-real-reason-w...

on Apr 10, 2012 · Like 0
Nina T Royersford, PA

Sorry Rhonda(KY), I hit Like by mistake. Thanks Paul(GA), I read some stuff myself, & I didn't find this info...it takes a collaboration of everyone/every state to care that the bees stay well & thriving.

on Apr 10, 2012 · Like 1
Teresa D Snellville, GA

I had bees in my backyard a year or so ago. Not sure what kind. Someone told me not to kill them but to contact the beekeeper society and they would come get them since they were in such danger. I looked them up and contacted them several times and never got a response. Having dealt with a hornet's nest around the same time as the bee discovery, I was not happy. I took care of the hornet's nest but stayed away from the bees hoping someone would finally respond. They never did but they bees finally disappeared.

on Apr 10, 2012 · Like 1
Pat S Titusville, FL

totally amazing...thanks for sharing.

on Apr 10, 2012 · Like 0
Jamie M Cave City, AR

Wow, that is so neat. I saw a small swarm of wild bees doing this last summer.

on Apr 24, 2012 · Like 0
Becky Blair, NE

Wow Bernice I bet that did make for an exciting time for you. Thanks for sharing. I've never seen anything like this, though I'm guessing my son has.
Just before he started second grade (age 7) we moved to our last home. The neighborhood was surrounded on three sides by wooded areas. A little neighbor boy, a year younger than our son and a bit of a trouble maker at the time, took our son down to the woods to show him something. When our son ...»
got close to the hive this little boy hit it with a long stick and the bees swarmed our son. He came home screaming.
Luckily I had the window opened and heard him so I ran out the front door to see him running home flailing his arms and legs and screaming. As we got closer to each other I saw what appeared to be a cloud of dust around him moving with him as he ran. As I got closer I realized it was bees. I wanted to hide him in my arms, but instead turned and ran with him home.
When we got to the front porch I told him to stand as still as he could while I carefully moved my hands from his body outward moving them away from him. When it seemed safe I opened the door and told him to run in. Two bees got in so I had to kill them getting our son in the bathroom and closing him in so he felt safe. I then called my hubby, he's an Army train EMT, to ask what to do. Our son stripped to his underwear and soaked in a tub with baking soda. I can't remember if we did anything else at time, but my hubby called the doctor and was told to send our son right away. As soon as he called us back our son dressed while I got our five year old daughter ready to head out. He had 57 stings. Doc said he might become highly allergic so he needed to be very careful from then on. No bee stings since and he's now thirty.

on Sep 04, 2012 · Like 0
SheilaG, Plum Doodles Acworth, GA

wow, Becky, that's quite a story! Scary and awful to think about your kid going through something like that. I hope the neighbor kid had some consequences.

on Sep 04, 2012 · Like 0
Becky Blair, NE

It was very scary Sheila. I doubt his mom ever heard or would have cared if she did. He was ready for first grade at the time and I soon found out he had a very filthy mouth so he was banned from our yard and our children were told not to play with him. The funny thing was he was always respectful, calling me "Mrs _____" and very polite. I think he liked that I cared enough to call him out when he misbehaved.

on Sep 04, 2012 · Like 2
Bernice H Yakima, WA

wow Becky! I am glad he is ok ...at least so far. scary!

on Sep 05, 2012 · Like 0
Becky Blair, NE

Thank you Bernice. He turned 30 this year and other than being down with a terrible cold right now he's very healthy.

on Sep 05, 2012 · Like 0
Bernice H Yakima, WA

Super! good to hear. Is he afraid of being stung by bees tho?

on Sep 06, 2012 · Like 0
Becky Blair, NE

I don't think he is. He was a little spooked by them for awhile but we explained to him that they never would have harmed him had it not been for the other little boy hitting their hive with the stick. We also told him to stand very still whenever he saw any and they'd move on. I think our daughter was more spooked by them then our son ever was. She always wanted to run when she saw any. It did become sort of a joke with bees for Alex though. Some of his friends would give him stuffed and ...»
other types of bees as gifts as joke. He took it well. He's a great kid.... well MAN now.

on Sep 06, 2012 · Like 0