Bees (on hummingbird feeders)

[Mmathis]

@addy1 These guys have been hanging out [and monopolizing] around all the hummingbird feeders for the past few weeks. They aren't aggressive, but I tend to keep my distance and haven't attempted to chase them off. Anyway, they leave me alone when I'm near -- will buzz around but that's all.

Are they honey bees or some other species? And how can you tell? This is the first year I've seen them like this on the hummer feeders..... There are flowers nearby, and they are also covered with bees [also bumble bees on the flowers].

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Must be nice to know you are helping the honey bees, with their populations in such decline.
I only get yellow jackets and paper wasps on my hummingbird feeders.

 

[tbendl]

They sure look like honey bees. Maybe @addy1 will weigh in.

 

[addy1]

Are they honey bees

Yep! This time of year, nectar is in scarce supply, even if there are flowers around a lot of them have no nectar for the bees. They have bred flowers to be pretty, at the expense of nectar and pollen.

I have fed mine over 400 lbs of sugar to get them enough honey stores for the winter. We start feeding in mid August and don't stop until the end of October.

A lot of the flowers are good for bumble bees, bad for honey bees. They can not get to the nectar it is to deep in the flower.

I let mint go crazy in one of our side yards, it has supplied great nectar for the bees since august, they love mint. It is still blooming. But not enough to not need to feed them. I would love to get some mint honey

 

[Mmathis]

Thanks, @addy1 ! I wasn't too concerned since they weren't showing any signs of aggression, but wasn't sure if they were regular honey bees or something else..... I don't know what this plant is in the back that they are all attracted to, but it has blue-ish purle-ish flowers. I'll try to snap a picture.

So, since the hummers are scarce right now [except for the occas. one that now can't get at the feeder ], are you saying that it's a good thing for me to have the sugar water available for them? And if so, at what concentration? I have it at the typical hummingbird ratio of [I think] 4:1.

 

[Mmathis]

I used to know what that plant was called -- I'll recognize the name if I see it..... And I said blue-ish flowers, well maybe they were more blue earlier during their blooming period, but pretty much purple right now. And they are intermingled with some mint, but I don't think the mint is blooming [the plant with the flowers is actually between the yard fence and the turtle fence -- it's just so tall that it bends over into the habitat]. I got a blurry shot of 2 bumble bees!

 

[Mmathis]

Must be nice to know you are helping the honey bees, with their populations in such decline.
I only get yellow jackets and paper wasps on my hummingbird feeders.

Yeah, I get those too, but they've slowed down now and all of a sudden (well, starting a few weeks ago) the bees have shown up en mass! In fact, I usually put out extra hummer feeders in an attempt to attract the wasps AWAY from at least a few feeders. I have a couple of those glass jars that have a hole in the bottom that you put fruit juice in -- supposed to attract & trap wasps & y. jackets. It does, but not enough to make a difference.

This is the first time ever that I've seen the bees doing this -- it's almost Alfred Hitchcock! But as long as they stay peaceful, I'm not gonna bother them.

 

[addy1]

Someone has a hive near you, or a hive swarmed and you now have a "wild" hive somewhere within a 2 mile radius. They will fly further, but not usually.

They like stronger nectar, i.e. sugar water, bee crack. We were feed the bees 2/1, in the fall. But for you feeder put in 1/1 one cup sugar one cup water. Make the water hot to get all the crystals to melt.

I have the wasps trap near the hives, darn things are here in mass because of our falling apples. I use those bags you can buy from home depot.

 

[Mmathis]

I went out today to clean the feeders and fill them with a stronger sugar solution, but it seems I'm gonna have to wait until around dusk to even consider taking them down The bees had other ideas, and I'd forgotten about their diurnal habits.

 

[addy1]

I went out today to clean the feeders and fill them with a stronger sugar solution, but it seems I'm gonna have to wait until around dusk to even consider taking them down The bees had other ideas, and I'd forgotten about their diurnal habits.

lol I do outside of the hives maintenance late in the evening or early am. Their main out of the hive time, is from around 10am to 4 or so. That is when most of the workers are out in the field. That is when we go into the hives. Makes it easier to go into that hive with 60000 bees when a lot of them are out working.

 

[Mmathis]

@addy1 You mentioned that there must be a hive close-by. I do vaguely recall [about 10 years ago] seeing what looked like hive boxes behind a house on the outskirts of our neighborhood -- this house was bordering an open area with no houses behind it. Short of following the bees [Magic School Bus], is there any way to know where they are living?

 

[Mike in Vermont]

I believe when they have gathered all of the nectar they can carry, They fly in a straight line, back to the hive. I used to try and follow them as a kid but, was never successful.

 

[tbendl]

Tm that looks like Clary Sage. Or Salvia something I think is the official name for it.

 

[addy1]

is there any way to know where they are living?

You can stand there and watch which way they fly when they leave your feeder. If they are all from the same hive they will fly in the same direction. We watch our bees and you can see which way most of the nectar/pollen must be, there is a steady stream of bees heading back from wherever they went .
Once you figure out the general direction just keep your eyes open for a hive in someones yard.

 

[Mmathis]

@addy1 Do they fly in a straight line back to their hive?

Oh, just saw Mike's comment where he says they do fly in a straight line.