Rural Gardening: Bee questions ..., 0 by beckygardener

beckygardener wrote:
I am new to this forum (in fact ... didn't even know we had a beekeeper forum on DG until today!). I noticed there is no sticky thread to address basic questions, so I hope some of you don't mind answering questions that I am sure have been asked and answered many times before in other threads ... I do appreciate it!

I live in a residental neighborhood, though I do have vacant and overgrown lots behind and to the west of me. I garden for Hummingbirds and Butterflies. And of course, I don't mind the bees at all either. But I have become concerned lately. I have several large porterweed and Golden Dewdrop bushes and I have a Coral Honeysuckle bush that has been trained as a standard. So it is in tree form now. It is currently blooming profusely. For months before the CH bloomed, I could hear buzzing near the back of my privacy fenced in yard. The fence is 6' vinyl white fencing. There is a vacant lot behind that area. And there is a rotted out old tree (not sure what kind). But I see no bees coming from that area. I just hear them.

Well the past couple of days, my CH tree has been putting on a beautiful show of colorful orange blooms. Today is Saturday and I am off from work, so had time to observe. I noticed that my resident hummer is avoiding the blooms. She was going for them when the tree was just starting to bloom. Now she is back at the Shrimp Plant blooms and the Firespike blooms next to the CH tree. I decided to investigate and went outside to see what was going on. Much to my shock, there are hundreds, maybe a thousand or more bees. They look just like honey bees buzzing around the blooms! So many that even the butterflies can hardly get a sip of nectar.

My questions:

1) Where do Honey Bees typically build their hives? I am trying to determine if there is indeed a nest behind my fence somewhere. There are large Brazilian Pepper trees in those vacant lots. (Which are everywhere unfortunately!)

2) I am also concerned about African Killer Bees (which I have seen a swarm here in the past). How can I tell the behavior of my bees to determine if they are actual non-aggressive bees or african bees? So far I have not been attacked by any of these bees, but they do act odd at times. They will fly/buzz right near me, but none have bumped me yet.

3) There used to be citrus groves about a 1/2 mile away, but most of those groves have been abandoned or removed. Could these bees be looking for another nectar source and have now come into the neighborhoods that host nectar flowers?

4) If there is a honeybee nest near my yard, how dangerous is this for me and other family members? Do honeybees normally mind their own business and ignore people or can they become protective and attack?

I am sure I will have more questions, but these were my main concerns at this time. Thanks for any answers folks here care to share to enlighten me.