Bee Creek. Photo © Catherine Gulyas.
I love this photo, and it’s a good reminder to make sure your honey bees have a source of water that they can reach easily and not drown. This is especially important if your neighbors have pools, water features, pet dishes, or sprinklers in their yards. It’s best to keep both the neighbors and the bees happy by making sure they have plenty to drink close to home. For more on water supplies see “Love that dirty water.”
Thanks, Catherine, for a great photo.
My neighbor set up 2 or 3 hives in his back yard in April. We own a saltwater pool and over the past weeks have noticed bees coming to hang out at the pool. Initially, it was 6-8 or so, but eventually it became 100+, gathering mostly by the ladder! Our neighbor moved his hives out of town to where he keeps his other hives, but there are still a dozen or so hanging around. Our neighbor had told us they would all go with their queen, but it looks like some of them have decided to stay. What can I do to get rid of these remaining honey bees? I don’t mind a few buzzing around, but they congregate by the entry area and there are over a dozen. I’m afraid more will start coming again. Thank you!
Janice,
A worker bee without a hive won’t live very long, a few days at most, so if they are leftovers from your neighbor’s hives they won’t be a problem for long. However, they could very well be from some other hive or even from a feral hive. Bees will travel long distance to get what they need—miles even—so there’s no telling where they are coming from.
One thing, though, is that they are away from their hive and not defending it or the young, so they are probably not at all aggressive.