Terry Coombs wrote:
....
Are you sure these aren't yellow jackets ? You said you've seen them nest
in the ground , the only honey bee that nests in the ground is AHB's , those
are the africanized ones - and they will attack en mass when disturbed . But
you live way north of their range . YJ's are slightly shorter , more slender
and more brightly colored than honey bees . If slightly larger than honey
bees , I'm not sure , but around bumble bee size there are several
varieties, some of which have already been discussed .
If they are honey bees , going in with some smoldering rags (or put the
smoldering rags in a tin bucket and sit it just inside the door) will help
to short-circuit their alarm pheromone , making them less likely to attack .
You'll want to look for comb building , one identifier of honey bees . If
you see comb , call a local bee club and someone will probably come and get
them ... feral survivor bees are highly desired by many beekeepers . If
they aren't honey bees , you can probably kill them with one of the house
fogger canisters , might use 2 to be sure you give them a lethal dose .

they are definitely not honey bees or any kind
of hornet, wasp, they look like small bumblebees.
and they can sting more than once (honey bees leave
their stinger behind). usually i see these kinda of
bees nest in the ground like under a piece of bark.


I currently have 5 colonies (hives) of dark Russian varroa-resistant honey
bees , 3 of which have produced a honey crop for me this year - probably
harvest around 50-60 quarts . The other 2 were just started this spring and
are still getting their houses in order .

there's six honey bee hives 150ft from here.
people put them there and didn't even ask us. it's
probably either on or very close to our property
line. luckily we don't ever use that back part of
the property for anything, but it would be annoying
because they are blocking our access...


songbird