songbird wrote:
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

In that case , poison the little suckers in the shed . Good beekeeper
etiquette would be for the owner of those hives to contact you before
placing them ... if they're actually on your property without permission ,
you probably have legal recourse to either make the owner move them or pay
you for the use of your property . My hives are all within 50 feet of the
house and we rarely have any problems . They can be a little ****y during
times of dearth , but usually only bother us when I've been in the hives for
an inspection .

--
Snag