Bee nice!

The weather has been wonderful here in the Valley of the Sun. It's been fluctuating between the mid 70's to high 80's and will reach 95 degrees this week. And that has brought the return of my little friends to my backyard. 

I first saw them last year. Well, I really saw the birds. Quite a few birds actually. They kept swooping down to a small retaining wall separating some plants from my pool. I thought it was really odd behavior. And then I saw that they were snatching little bees that were flying around my lime tree. Is that normal? I kept watching, and those darn little bees were crawling in between the blocks of my retaining wall. They weren't aggressive. And they are very small. They just kept about their business of going out of the retaining wall, buzzing up to the lime tree and returning to the spaces between the blocks. I contacted two local bee keepers and they said because of the location next to the pool, they didn't want to extract the bees due to the possibility of ruining the wall and/or getting a lot of debris in the pool. Unfortunately, what they both proposed made me a little sad. They both said I should probably just spray a bug killer into the cracks in the evening after the bees returned to their "home". They weren't really bothering anyone. But it is a little unsettling with so many of them right there by the pool. Nobody wants to go swimming. I may try to contact another bee keeper. 

Anyway, this is the time of year when bees are very active. Here in Arizona we have a lot of Africanized honey bees. And every year there are reports of people and animals being attacked and sometimes killed. Those bees are known for protecting their hives and are relentless in their pursuit. So there's no wonder people are afraid. Sometimes people call 911 in a panic over a swarm of bees that have collected on a mail box, a street sign or tree limb. That is not always a cause for alarm.

Bees usually swarm because they are looking for a new home. They like space. So when their hive starts to become crowded, a group of bees will take the queen and go looking for a new place to set up residency, leaving the other bees behind to raise a new queen. They will usually fly to a spot not too far from their original hive and a few scouts will take off in search of the perfect home. Upon their return they each dance their home's description and try to get the other bees excited about seeing it. Whoever does the best dance, wins. This whole process may take a couple of days. During this time they are not very active and not likely to attack. Walk calmly away and if possible, let them be. No need to call anyone as they will be gone soon. Unless they are swarming on your car and you need to be somewhere. But be mindful. If there is a swarm, then there is likely a hive nearby. Maybe someplace you don't really want one. Like somewhere on your house.

So don't panic. Bee nice. Bee calm. And let them find a new home.