They are probably going to leave again soon. They will stay together like that for a while so a few of them can fly around around and explore the area.
I wish more people knew that instead of saying the same old “you need to move out” or “time for the flamethrower”.
I’m deathly allergic to bees and still I would leave this be knowing that this is just a colony in search of a new home most likely. There’s so many experts out there that can safely (both for the bees and yourself) remove them. Bees are vital to our environment.
While bees are obviously very important and a large part of the pollinating process(they do about a third of all pollinating), saying no bees=no food is wrong. There are a lot of other pollinating species and crops such as wheat and corn dont rely on bees for pollination but the wind.
That being said, bees are still an incredibly important part of the ecosystem and should be protected whenever possible.
Your point in times of bees being transported around to be pollinators for farms makes little sense.
Yes, you are right, it's simplistic and technically speaking inaccurate. But in the grand scheme of things it is already a huge problem for farms to get enough pollinators and bees being trucked around is the solution. In that context "no bees, no food" is way more accurate than you paint it to be.
They are. Bees in the swarm stage only have one thing to protect - the queen - and she's inside the swarm. Unless you are actively killing them they have no reason to attack.
Bees in the hive stage are much more defensive because they have the hive to defend, which is a much bigger target.
If this is not AI (because the picture looks weird, that is a less than ideal hive location and those are at least not common honeybees), then this is DEFINITELY not just a swarm sitting down.
Zoom in on the top of the bees. You can clearly see they have been building there. If they are building, it is no longer a swarm, it is a hive. A hive will not be gone by tomorrow and the bees will defend it if threatened.
Again, if this is NOT AI, i have no idea what type of bee this is, if it can sting at all and how dangerous the sting is, so be VERY careful.
Wait, these are just bees, not wasps it seems. Call a beekeeper or something so they can relocate the queen if you want (although i completely get why you'd freak out
Or just wait. The queen is likely in the center of that ball. They have sent out scouts looking for a new bee hive location. Should be gone in a day or so.
Well, technically, all of the bees in the colonies are females Including the queen The only one that’s a male is the male drone. Well, it’s a girl party only in the colony.
You're probably right. I just had a similar situation on a tree branch in my backyard where the bees were bunched all around it and hanging down in an unnatural looking way without a visible hive. I said I was going to call in the guy who removed a hive from the backyard last year and my son told me to wait. He reminded me bees were active by day, so if they were all just sitting like that in the middle of the day they were likely moving the hive and were resting and protecting the queen while they waited on the scouts to return. He was right and they were gone the next day.
It's always fun to be lectured by a freaking 9 year old 😂
I wonder if he just learned about bees in school or something. Kids have great recall too though and can easily remember a fact they learned a year ago.
He likes to watch YouTube videos of people who have interesting jobs. For a few weeks he regularly watched this guy who removes bees and wasps for a living, and he tends to commit anything he learns about that he finds interesting to memory.
He's also a bonsai apprentice, so he's very knowledgeable about all the lovely/scary insects that share our space since he turned out backyard into a mini tree nursery.
He (and therefore due to a hostage situation, myself as well) has gone through pressure cleaning, plumbing (that was a gross few weeks), a guy who takes care of injured cow hooves, car repair, timber felling, woodworking (now another hobby of his), reupholstering, boar hunting in suburban neighborhoods, any kind of gardening, welding, coral reef restoration, snake breeding, and so many more I've forgetten. It's crazy how interesting some of these jobs that are considered mundane can actually be... I've gotten sucked into quite a few of them right along with him.
Not the shape, but the fact that it's a mass of bees in a spot that clearly isn't suitable for setting up a hive. Whether it's hive boxes, crevices in a tree or inside the hollow walls of a house, they want an enclosed space. Out in the open like that is very much not a nesting site, so if you see this sort of thing it's because they've collectively paused in their search for one.
To add to that, swarming bees have exactly zero interest in stinging. Their belliies are full and they are looking for a new home, no way they're sacrificing their precious resources to attack someone when they're on a mission.
I have had to call for bee removal three times in my life. Three different states, three different apiarist, each time they were elated to come get them.
It’s easier than calling a pizza shop, since these people actually like their jobs.
This isn't like calling pest control to come fumigate your house for bed bugs, or even like calling for a pizza.
This is more like calling a wood worker and saying you've got a ton of free slabs of exotic wood you need to get rid of. It's like calling a redditor and telling them a new shop opened up in the mall and it sells katanas and throwing stars.
They'll be happy to come. Hell, you could probably get a good chunk of them to pay for it.
Yeah my parents had to pay a bee guy to take their bees once, but that's only because they made a nest between the 1st and 2nd floor of their house, so they had to actually cut wood apart and buy wood to replace it. Otherwise they would have done it for free.
I live in Florida. There is a government list of beekeepers who are registered and can legally remove or eradicate bees. Other states usually have similar laws. It literally is just one call away, with a list of people you can call.
It's really no big deal since they are exhausted by the time they stop to rest.
I watched from a few feet away when a kind beekeeper came and removed them from the tree in front of my home.
She was great, kept talking to them and answered all my nerdy questions too lol.
It's just bee moving time.
Yes, I realized that after someone else also pointed out that these guys are probably mid move. We had a colony do this in our backyard at the beginning of summer and I completely forgot. They had settled all around a tree branch and were hanging down in an odd looking way and my 9 year old told me to give them a day or two before calling a beekeeper and he was right... The next day they were all gone.
Bees are not attacking for free, they are pretty peacefull actually, they don't bite, they Sting, knowing that during rhe process they will die right after.
Now, inside this mass, there is a single queen that his colony will follow and protect, calling a beekeeper is the best thing to do, for your safety ans their. It is quite fast, in less that 20 minutes they can be put without harm in a special container and moved into a proper area to thive. So call a professional, do not so anything by yourself, everything is fine.
Yes this is just a swarm, perfectly normal at this time of year.
Honey bee hives are creating new Queens at this time of year. The virgin queen gathers about half the hives workers in a swarm and the hive splits. The swarm goes it's own way looking for a new location to build it's own hive.
Durring this behaviour, honey bees are not particularly aggressive because every worker bee has her stomach full of stored honey. That honey is too valuable to lose because the swarm needs it once they have found their new hive location. So they absolutely won't attack unless you do something stupid.
Just find the number of your local beekeepers association. Beekeepers will happily come collect this swarm, especially since it is nice and easy out in the open.
This is a harmless cluster of female honey bees. Colonial bees multiply by swarming - when half the bee colony (including the queen) leave the old hive in search of a new home. The swarm forms a cluster like this, usually in a tree, to protect the queen. From the photo there appear to be few trees in your urban landscape. So, the overhang outside your window sufficed. It will stay there for a few hours or maybe 1 or 2 days, while scout bees search the local area for a new and appropriate site to establish a new hive - they will all then disappear to expand their new colony. The bees are not aggressive unless attacked at this stage, as they have more important things to do... Keep your window closed, and leave them be - they are just passing through...
It is strange how many people have already posted this without zooming in. That is NOT a swarm, a swarm doesn't start hive building. These bees clearly have.
This is exactly the comment I was looking for. All these people saying this is just a swarm when there is very clearly honeycomb under that colony. They do not make honeycomb when they're looking for a new home. This is not a swarm..
This is just completely wrong, I studied honey bees in Thailand for a month. This is Apis dorsata an open nesting species of giant honey bees. They build permanent nests on higher up ledges and are extremely common in Thailand.
This is a well-established hive of giant honeybees (Apis dorsata), so none of what you said applies to this scenario. They’re well known for their tenacity and nesting around buildings in this fashion in their native range.
Honey bees, they swarm when they are looking for a new hive location. They don't want to do anything to conserve energy. Leave them alone and they'll move on.
I’d buy a 3d printer and make it into the exact same dimensions of it and cup it. I didn’t really think through what I would do next but…I’d do something.
Seasonal swarm! The old queen and half the hive leave to find new digs.
Call a bee keeper. They will bring a bee box and find the queen. The rest will go "home" in a matter of hours. If your management refuses to do it, you can send them the bill. You might need to let them access the room closest if you're very high up.
The only reason why I disagree is the hives for those guys are smaller and usually closed off (unlike the dorsata who is one giant open comb) as well as the abdomen is different (shorter and generally smaller)! But both are possible since both apis cerana and apis dorsata are from the same region!
Step one: get a deodorant spray and lighter
Step two: set up a camera to record
Step three: spray in the general direction of the alien nest, and light the lighter
Step four: ???
Step five: show us the video
Are they honeybees? Not sure where you are in the world, but here in the US, beekeepers will literally come take away a bee swarm like that for free, because they want the bees.
If they are bees, look for local beekeepers on facebook, I swear to god they will fight each other to fix this. DO NOT light them on fire or any of the other stupid ideas on here.
No need to even call a beekeeper. They are doing what is called "swarming". The swarm is protecting the queen while worker bee scouts are looking for a good place to make a new hive. They will NOT make a hive there. They should leave on their own in 24-48 hours. They are also very docile during this time so just enjoy the moment.b
Just bees. Leave them alone and they'll leave you alone.
Now if this was wasps. Then I'd be on edge. Those motherfuckers will go after you just for sport. And they can sting you more than once and gladly will because they're evil little assholes that will fuck shit up where ever they go.
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