Attn: bee lovers :)

[bayouchica]

My hubby was walking the dogs & hollered at me to come see.They were on one of the fig trees out back.
I've lived out here 6 yrs now & every spring I've heard the bees swarming in the trees.Finally got a chance to see them up close doing their thing.Totally awesome I could just watch them all day..quite interesting.
This was yesterday evening,they were split up in two groups

They were still there this morning,just one big blob of bees,lol.

close up shot

Thanks for looking
yall have a wonderful day, Miriam

 

[Southern Gardener]

Wow - that is awesome! When they swarm, are they looking for a new queen to start a new hive?

 

[Chellie]

Holy Cow! That is a lot of bees!


Chellie

 

[bayouchica]

My hubby was saying that they send out scouts to look for a new place. I just came back in & they were still there,alot more active though.
There's plenty of places for them to make a new home.Dang wish I did have a hive.
That's something I'd also like to get into.Would be nice to have some real honey. :bee

Oh forgot to add,I think they have a queen with them...

 

[Pakalana]

Somewhat late on a response but...

Bees swarm usually when there are two queens in a hive. The old queen will take a portion of the hive with her to find a new home. The colony can't survive without a queen, there's a very delicate timeline involved with bee life cycles, especially workers.

We had a colony take up shop in some old frames we inherited, crash course in bee keeping last Spring. My dh is the one who does the bees here, I'm terrified of them (anything that buzzes with a stinger). Unfortunately we lost them to CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder) this year. It was too late to start a new hive, but we'll be starting one again next year. The more I've learned about them, the more I love them. I do love bees, they always look so content on the flowers, they are amazingly busy....I'm just scared to death of them. I did work myself up to working in the lavender with them, but it's still nerve racking.

Interesting facts about them:
The main bees (workers, guards, scouts) are all female. Males are for breeding only, leave to find the mating place for the year and if they live longer than needed are killed. They don't do anything else but mate and therefore take resources from the hive that they don't help replenish...dead weight in other words.
If the hive isn't satisfied with a queen, they will replace her. Sometimes she moves on, sometimes she is killed.
There's a mating location that queens and males leave to (mating is never done at a hive). No one is sure how this is governed or decided, but the bees find it every year.

 

[nccountrygirl]

Well shoot I missed the pictures. Never mind I just saw it's an old thread

 

[bayouchica]

nccountrygirl, so sorry. I can post them again. I usually don't leave my pics on Photobucket for very long these days,lol.
Give me a few(several) mintues... on dial up,lol.

Okay they are up top again.enjoy

 

[nccountrygirl]

Thank you, those pictures are awesome.

 

[Rio_Lindo_AZ]

Thats really cool! Thanks for sharing!