Today these little critters appear to be trying to set up home behind the window frame on my front porch. I'm not thrilled but if they are really bees (pollenators) I don't want to harm them either. They look like honey bees, only darker. Can anyone ID? It took about 40 tries to get a half-way decent photo. Sorry. If they're wasps I need to get something ASAP to get rid of them.
It's hard to tell from the picture. He could be a Mason Bee - they are dark, don't sting, & really like going behind the window frames at my place. I have homes for them, but some prefer to make their own place. It would be a good idea to identify him prior to spraying. There is a growing concern about the Bee shortage these days: Varoa Mite is killing many off, and just recently we've been made aware of a new situation regarding empty hives. Scientists are not certain why this is occuring to the degree that it is.
Mason Bees are the first to emerge in late winter of a typical year, and are fun to watch - they are totally focused on their job. Wish I had their energy!
Thanks Katye, If they are Mason bees I will definitely not bother them. I thought they were smaller and these are the size of honey bees, if not a bit larger. I'm going to go google Mason bees.
Colony colapse. It really is so aweful. Did they rule out cell phones as the culprit? It's just so strange that they're not even finding dead bodies anywhere. Just POOF! Gone. I hope they figure out what's going on ....
Yes, it's really discouraging. I think these look like bees. They are furry like bees. I haven't seen furry looking wasps but as you can likely tell, I'm no entomologist. There is a hive of what looks like honey bees in a stack of wooden boxes by the parking lot at my office. I saw them swarming about a week ago and now the bees are busy as..well... as BEES coming and going out of the hole in the side of the box. No one appears to be bothering them. The hive is actually just by a new parking area at the dental office next door so I stopped in there to talk to them and make sure they weren't feaked out by the bees or anything. The receptionist said that she would likely not mention them to the dentist as he would certainly want them destroyed. Can you believe it?? I told her that if anyone there had a problem with the bees to let me know and I would try to arrange for someone to come out and remove them. I have No idea how I would do that, but so far so good. It's really fun to watch them.
Seems like I heard of a bee that looks very much like a honey bee that lives in the PNW, but isn't actually a honey bee.
This website may help.
http://www.whatsthatbug.com/bees.html
Wow, Pixydish! I'm impressed! Those bees are lucky to have you looking out for their well-BEE-ing.
yuck yuck ....
:)
CTMG, that's a GREAT link. Thank you!
Thanks for the link ctmg and other info everyone. Yes, they are Orchard Mason Bees. There's Violet-Green Swallows nesting just a few feet to one side of them and a hummingbird feeder on the other side but all are getting along fine so far. Just so the cat or dog doesn't decide to try to chomp one!
Pixydish, I'll bet one of the bee keepers would love to give your bees a safe home. They would probably be thrilled.
Cool link!
Also cool that you have Mason bees! That's lovely! I had been considering putting one of those little wooden mason bee homes somewhere in the yard. Maybe I'll get some without one. We do get lots of cool little bumble bees every year, the kind that nest in the ground. I love bees of all kinds. My name, Melissa, means 'honey bee', or, more correctly I think, the nymph who taught the gods about honey bees, or some such thing. I am not exactly nymph like, but I'm generally busy as a bee.
Maybe I should contact some bee keepers and see if they want to come get the bees. But they are doing so well on their own I hate to disturb them. I would love to have them identified, though. They look just like honey bees to me, but they could be honey bee wannabees (har har har!!) (That was for you, Estreya)
You guys are funny!!
:)
Pixy ...
ROFL!
You guys are the bees knees ....
Hey Melissa! Perhaps not a nymph but definitely a garden (and pond) goddess!
Yes, I want to get a bee block too. They seem to just about have the frame gap filled and I want to encourage them. I haven't seen a single honey bee yet though there are some bumblers around. I just love those guys!
I worry some well meaning person may try to clean up the stack of boxes and evict your bees.
Bees knees.... LOL! Yes, I was concerned about that too. The boxes are actually on the property of a house that looks like it hasn't had a good yard clean up in years. I think it is a rental. The boxes have been there ever since I've rented the office space, and I've been there over 3 years now. I think it's a safe bet that no one even notices them anymore. I thought about knocking on the door to the home and telling them the bees are there, but given the looks of the place, I can't believe they would care. If they did care, they would likely want to kill them. I'm probably stereotyping, but call it a gut impression. I also thought about putting a sign up labeling them as honey bees and directing people to my office if they had concerns about the bees. But then I decided a sign would only call attention to their existence. I'll see if I can find a bee keeper in the general area who wants to come take a look.
Edit: Hey, there is actually a Puget Sound beekeepers association. Here's a link to one of their pages:
http://www.wasba.org/swarm.htm
I'll see if I can email someone through this site.
This message was edited May 10, 2007 9:37 AM
