African Bees got you down?

[jbreazeale]

Actually, I'm a heck of a lot more scared of hornets. Now, those are some nasty boogers, with much more painful stings, and they will hunt you down if you p**s them off.

[rhumphries]

Originally Posted by jbreazeale

Actually, I'm a heck of a lot more scared of hornets. Now, those are some nasty boogers, with much more painful stings, and they will hunt you down if you p**s them off.

Not to mention that wasps and hornets can sting you over and over again and live to fight another day whereas honey bees die after stinging you.

My biggest fear when it comes to bee stings is getting stung directly on the eyeball. It almost had happen to me once when I was 8 years old after being attacked by several "boonie bees", or "Vespa mandarinia" while living in Guam. Got stung on the lower eyelid, upper lip, ear, neck, and top of the hand. I'm lucky I didn't die.

http://www.thehumanaught.com/blog/wp...andarinia1.jpg

And if you think Africanized honey bees are bad-*****es, check out what the V. mandarinia can do to them....

"The Asian giant hornet is a relentless hunter that preys on other large insects such as bees, other hornet species, and praying mantises. The hornets often attack honey bee hives with the goal of obtaining the honey bee larvae. A single scout, sometimes two or three, will cautiously approach the nest, giving off phermones which will lead the other hornets to the hive's location. The hornets can devastate a colony of honey bees: a single hornet can kill as many as 40 honey bees per minute; it takes only a few of these hornets a few hours to exterminate the population of a 30,000-member hive, leaving a trail of severed insect heads and limbs. Once a hive is emptied of all defending bees, the hornets carry the honey bee larvae back to feed to their own larvae. The hornets can fly up to 60 miles in a single day, at speeds up to 25 MPH."

-R-

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[cvowell]

Ohh, this is timely. This is what I found next to the pool equip on my morning inspection (pics attached)

I have no idea if they were honey bees or of the African variety. I didnt stick around long enough to get closer photos.

[Ted Allen]

Originally Posted by cvowell

Ohh, this is timely. This is what I found next to the pool equip on my morning inspection (pics attached)

I have no idea if they were honey bees or of the African variety. I didnt stick around long enough to get closer photos.

They both look the same.

That would be a perfect nest to use the soap deal on as they are all out in the open.

I would never recomend telling your clients about this as it is still dangerous and it might present you with more liability if they(clients) get hurt trying to save a buck. However, it is good to know whom to call and to be able to explain what might take place with the removal of the bee's.

[Ted Allen]

Originally Posted by rhumphries

Not to mention that wasps and hornets can sting you over and over again and live to fight another day whereas honey bees die after stinging you.

My biggest fear when it comes to bee stings is getting stung directly on the eyeball. It almost had happen to me once when I was 8 years old after being attacked by several "boonie bees", or "Vespa mandarinia" while living in Guam. Got stung on the lower eyelid, upper lip, ear, neck, and top of the hand. I'm lucky I didn't die.

http://www.thehumanaught.com/blog/wp...andarinia1.jpg

And if you think Africanized honey bees are bad-*****es, check out what the V. mandarinia can do to them....

"The Asian giant hornet is a relentless hunter that preys on other large insects such as bees, other hornet species, and praying mantises. The hornets often attack honey bee hives with the goal of obtaining the honey bee larvae. A single scout, sometimes two or three, will cautiously approach the nest, giving off phermones which will lead the other hornets to the hive's location. The hornets can devastate a colony of honey bees: a single hornet can kill as many as 40 honey bees per minute; it takes only a few of these hornets a few hours to exterminate the population of a 30,000-member hive, leaving a trail of severed insect heads and limbs. Once a hive is emptied of all defending bees, the hornets carry the honey bee larvae back to feed to their own larvae. The hornets can fly up to 60 miles in a single day, at speeds up to 25 MPH."

-R-

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I have seen them on the Discovery channel and I have no desire to see them any closer than that.

[rhumphries]

Originally Posted by cvowell

Ohh, this is timely. This is what I found next to the pool equip on my morning inspection (pics attached)

I have no idea if they were honey bees or of the African variety. I didnt stick around long enough to get closer photos.

From what I've learned about Africanized Honey Bees, they prefer nesting in enclosed areas such as (in the wild) inside tree trunks or caves or (in domesticated areas) inside attics, behind siding and in sheds and barns. If these bees are nesting in wide open spaces, and in such small numbers (comparitively), I wouldn't think they would be AHBs.

Probably not worth the risk to personally find out.

-R-

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[jkogel]

From the pictures, that looks like a swarm, not a nest yet, but a young queen moving to a new spot with her workers. If you shook the tree, they'd fly over to the neighbour's yard, or maybe not. I'd call a beekeeper, who might be happy to take them. He'll just shake them into a sack.

About the soapy water thing, I wouldn't be attacking an African colony with up to 400 guard bees with anything less than gasoline in my squirt gun! What if you miss a couple of dozen? Fumes from the gas kills them dead. Coleman camp fuel works, too. I'm talking wasps here, as we don't have a bee problem (yet).

[Blaine Wiley]

Being allergic to bees, I think I prefer living near the alligators!!

I watched a show on Discovery the other night, I think it was called Hazardous Jobs or something, and they were removing a big bee nest from behind the rake board on a home with a cement tile roof. Big nest, bunch of bees, and the guys got stung through their suits a few times. They said the average job paid fifty bucks. No thanks!!!

[rhumphries]

Originally Posted by bwiley

Being allergic to bees, I think I prefer living near the alligators!!

I watched a show on Discovery the other night, I think it was called Hazardous Jobs or something, and they were removing a big bee nest from behind the rake board on a home with a cement tile roof. Big nest, bunch of bees, and the guys got stung through their suits a few times. They said the average job paid fifty bucks. No thanks!!!

I saw the same show. I liked how they suggested leaving a bee site. "Open the door as fast and you can with your gear on, jump in, then keep your windows rolled down to let the bees fly out as we drive down the road. Expect to get stung after you think all of the bees are gone."

-R-

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[wforsyth]

Well, these don't look anything like the ones here. So I have no idea.

Anecdotally...

My son Matthew was at his dad's who owns a wrecking yard. He climbed in one of the cars to pretend to drive. There was a nest of hornets in the steering wheel and he was stung probably 100-200 times all over his head, neck, and arms.

Thankfully he wasn't allergic and suffered no ill effects. Tough little dude didn't even cry.

I personally, would have cried.

[Russell Spriggs]

Having been a commercial beekeeper, I'll add this-
Yes, that's a pic of a swarm. Actually, the old queen, with about 1/2 the field force, takes off just before new queens are due to emerge.

Meanwhile, back at the hive, the first emerging queen goes out on a vendetta, tearing the other new queens cells apart. If there is more than 1 newly emerged queen, they'll duke it out to the death.

BTW, do NOT use the soap or any other way, to kill a colony in an occupied building. The resulting mess can be unbelievably messy and expensive to clean, as the workers fan the gathered nectar to evaporate it to about 18% water before they cap it. This circulating air helps maintain the temperature. Without it, the wax invariably melts and then you may literally have hundreds of pounds of honey seeping through the walls.

And then, robber bees come along, too.

Although it's a slow process, it's often best to have an experienced beekeeper trap them out. this usually involves mounting a hive body to the house itself.

Fascinating creatures, and well worth studying.

[Ted Allen]

Originally Posted by rspriggs

Having been a commercial beekeeper, I'll add this-
Yes, that's a pic of a swarm. Actually, the old queen, with about 1/2 the field force, takes off just before new queens are due to emerge.

Meanwhile, back at the hive, the first emerging queen goes out on a vendetta, tearing the other new queens cells apart. If there is more than 1 newly emerged queen, they'll duke it out to the death.

BTW, do NOT use the soap or any other way, to kill a colony in an occupied building. The resulting mess can be unbelievably messy and expensive to clean, as the workers fan the gathered nectar to evaporate it to about 18% water before they cap it. This circulating air helps maintain the temperature. Without it, the wax invariably melts and then you may literally have hundreds of pounds of honey seeping through the walls.

And then, robber bees come along, too.

Although it's a slow process, it's often best to have an experienced beekeeper trap them out. this usually involves mounting a hive body to the house itself.

Fascinating creatures, and well worth studying.

It beats the hell out of useing Cypermethrin..

I agree that it is best to get a true bee keeper to trap them, but around here everyone is running scared due to Africanized bees. I was only providing information nothing more.

[Russell Spriggs]

And, good info it is.

Better than using chemicals!

Thanks, Todd!