Posted: 8/15/2012 4:32:39 PM EDT
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My summer has been filled with bees. My little girl got stung by yellow jackets, and I took them out. There is another yellow jacket nest in the front yard I have to deal with later. Not to mention the wasps building their paper nests in the barn. However, yesterday I discovered something else entirely unexpected.
Up in a tree in our back yard there is a knot hole, and apparently part of that branch is hollow, because I spotted hundreds of bees coming in and out of this hole! Last night there was a storm and I figured that maybe these guys were on the move since I had not noticed them before. Nope. They are still there. I got my camera and climbed up on the kids "fort" to get a better look. 
Don't see em? 
How can I tell if these are Africanized bees? Will they just chill there in the tree forever? |
| We're outside of Syracuse. For a while I was thinking about trying to find someone to get them out of here but a few minutes ago I was talking about it with the better half and she reminded me of something. They pollinate. We have several apple trees, and the garden, plus the random grapes and berries we planted. I am now wondering what to do to make sure they can do their thing and leave us alone. Obviously don't let the kids throw stuff at them is important. Will they ride out the winter in there? I know absolutely nothing about bees other than they make honey and sting. |
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I don't think you folks have anything to worry about in NY so far as africanized bees go. You can google maps of their distribution. They're not found north of the Mason-Dixon Line yet. For your yellowjackets, if you know where the nest is you can always use a long pipe and funnel (preferably at night) to nuke them from orbit. Make sure the funnel is taped-up water-tight and that there's a screen or some gauze in the bottom of it so they can't fly up the funnel before you pour. 
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swoop:
You already are ahead of the game. Most people think that if they got stung, it was by a bee. In most cases its a wasp, not a bee, but bees get the bad reputation and blame. I have had one or two hives in the front yard of my rural home for a decade now. The grand total of stings by bees(other than when actually bee keeping)?: 1 (yes, one). Africanized bees aren't anywhere near here. If left alone those will do no harm at all. Seriously. I wmight worry if they were near a door, window, close to a side walk, etc, but otherwise htey are of no trouble. Try to picture the entrance hole as the end of an airport runway. If you stand to the side or behind, there is no issue. If you stand or walk directly infront, then there is a potential for problems. Likewise, to the side or behind a airport runway means nothing, but standing on teh runway as planes approach could be exciting. The question is, is the common flight path for these bees near the kids tree fort. Sit and watch. It will be really clear after about five minutes of observation. BTW, the 'busy area' near a hive entrance is usually a relatively small area, sort of cone shaped about 10 feet in diameter extending about 10 feet out from the entrance hole. Outside of this is usually not an issue. Wasp and bee stings are different. Bees stick a stinger in you, which tears out of the bee and remains in the skin. There is a small venom sack attached, and this little gem continues to slowly pump venom in the skin. When stung do two things immediately: 1) Swat and kill the bee 2) scrape the stinger out with a finger nail. Do not squeeze and pulls, as this squeezes the venom sack and gets more venom in you. When stung a bee leaves a pheromone scent marker on you, then flies to the hive and sounds the intruder alarm. Agitated bees pour out in a defensive mood. More stings follow. A simple swat and scrape quickly does two things. It kills the bee before the alarm is rung, and it gets the stinger out before much venom is injected. Fewer stings and less discomfort result. If the bees are an issue, try a little Sevin. It will do them in. But no, they are not africanized, not this far north. Sidebar; To indicate how passive bees can be, I used to crack open a hive, pull out a frame covered in bees and have neighborhood kids poke fingers in the honey and eat. No smoker, no veil, everyone in shorts and tee shirts and five feet from the rear of the hive. Its all about calm, deliberate movement, with no panicked swatting and freaking out. Again, zero stings. edit: if you have apples, these will pollenate for you. They will not pollenate everything. Some flowers need other pollenators since honey bee tongues are too short to reach the nectar. My honey bees work by apples, and pears and plums, but wont tough my blueberries, which the wild bumblebees love. Will they make the winter? Dunno. Depends on mite loads, and how much honey they can stash before snow flies. Mine need about 70+ lbs or more for St lawrence county NY |
| I live in the city and my neighboor has a couple of hives with what he said was around 100,000 bees. They are all over my yard and I haven't been stung by a bee in 40 years. Yellow jackets and bald face hornets are another matter. Kill them with fire. Wait for night. Pour kero and gas down hole. Wait a few minutes and flick your bic. Then do it again. |
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Quoted:
I live in the city and my neighboor has a couple of hives with what he said was around 100,000 bees. They are all over my yard and I haven't been stung by a bee in 40 years. Yellow jackets and bald face hornets are another matter. Kill them with fire. Wait for night. Pour kero and gas down hole. Wait a few minutes and flick your bic. Then do it again. It's safer to forgo the fire. The fire isn't needed anyway–– gasoline, kero, ether, diesel, etc. all will quickly kill yellowjackets deader than snot. |