Bees!!

[Egghead_Jr]

Trying again to paste a smaller pic...

 

[Abriana]

View attachment 1232457

Try and paste a smaller one...

 

[rebrascora]

I was expecting the OP to be near a bee yard in California when I read the title. I guess Texas is similar. The beekeeper should be feeding them pollen patties if there is not enough forage. You need to let them know that you are having a problem with them. As a beekeeper, I appreciate that you cannot control where your bees go, but you have an obligation not to cause a nuisance to your neighbours.

My bees were all flying briefly on New Years Day here(cleansing flights and water foraging) but it has been cold since and they are all clustered tight again now.

 

[cottontail farm]

10 bees!

Sorry but that's kind of funny to me as a beekeeper. They won't bother you at all and if the neighbor gives them a substitute they'll be gone. Also as soon as the first bloom starts they'll be gone.

Here is a swarm I collected last year. Few more than 10 bees...Worst part of this is I got them from a ladder and had to lean far into tree, almost fell off when they dropped into tote I was holding and then when I pulled it back through the branches the tote poured thousands of bees onto my veil to block out light and almost fell off ladder again...

Ok, as a beekeeper I literally LOL'd at this. Hahahah, oh my. Swarm calls never go easy, do they? Glad you stayed on that ladder. Was the ladder perched on a truck bed or a picnic table? Because those free bees are always juuuuust out of reach.

 

[cottontail farm]

Ok, just for discussion here: knowing how bees carry pollen is it even possible to carry bits of crumble back to a hive?

 

[Egghead_Jr]

There is a reason the old timey pictures show people using baskets on poles to collect swarms is all I'm saying. The force I had to pull the plastic tote (what was handy at the time) through the branches literally dumped the bees on me face and was sending me backward....held the ladder one hand and uprighted what was left of bees in tote other then waited...and waited until I could see again. I don't know how but the queen was still in the tote so they all followed her into my make shift nuc under that tree. Sky was dark with bees not an hour before, dark again due to my Jerry Lewis efforts to obtain them then not hour later all bees were in that impromtu nuc I'd set up. Really amazing stuff when you get down to bee behaviour and managing them.

 

[Nardo]

View attachment 1232457


Holy moly that's a lot of bees

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Ok, just for discussion here: knowing how bees carry pollen is it even possible to carry bits of crumble back to a hive?

They'd prefer dust and likely that is what they were collecting. Minute dust particles on the crumble itself. Attracted to high protein, high nutrient source of feed. In low or no bloom they'll get it anywhere.

 

[rebrascora]

Here is a swarm I collected last year. Few more than 10 bees...Worst part of this is I got them from a ladder and had to lean far into tree, almost fell off when they dropped into tote I was holding and then when I pulled it back through the branches the tote poured thousands of bees onto my veil to block out light and almost fell off ladder again...

Oh the joys of swarm collection!

The bees have babies to feed and they need protein. If there ares no or not enough flowers, they have to get it where they can and I've read before about people in California whose coops are mobbed by thousands of bees looking to rob their feeders for protein. If you are next door to a bee yard where there are hundreds or thousands of hives, a few thousand bees foraging at your coop each day soon makes a hole in your feed bag!

This is not a normal state of affairs and is a result of the colonies being built up unnaturally early in the season in order to be ready for the agricultural(fruit and nut) crops that need pollinating and being kept in a bee yard with too many other colonies where the local forage conditions will not support them.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I agree to some extent. Many keepers will throw sugar water at them to vamp up brood rearing and assume the'll find pollen they need. With only 10 bees on the feed I'd contribute it to the warming trend right now in Texas. Hitting 50 F will cause them to look around while they've the daylight and weather to do so.