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Ground Bees swarming! Don't Want to KILL them!

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Posted by shyspook (My Page) on
Thu, Oct 18, 07 at 18:00

We have ground bees here and Yellow Jacket wasps. The wasps usually live in trees and in sheds. I just came online looking for any information about ground bees because I noticed the bees last week when I cleared out an old rotting tree branch. They did not attempt to sting me or my family. My son wanted to spray them and I would not let him because of the benefit to plants, etc. TODAY... I was out turning the ground and replanting a flower bed and as I started to come into the house, I noticed that the bees are swarming near my front door. I thought at first they were after the giant garden spider there and then I realized that they are swarming my hummingbird feeder by the millions!

I have never noticed them by the feeder before and the hummingbirds should have all started migrating by now....they left the feeder full when they left and I haven't gotten around to taking it down.

I don't want to kill the bees. I am not allergic to them or poison ivy or most other things that sting.

What I want to know is what I can do FOR them to make them comfortable where they are NOW. Can I put some kind of house out for them...What do I do? Why are they swarming the feeder? Will it help if I put it closer to the tree so they can have easier access to it? What can I do for them?

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RE: Ground Bees swarming! Don't Want to KILL them!

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I often see the Yellow Jackets around my Hummingbird feeder but have never seen a bee there. There are bees working the flowers that are in bloom right under that feeder but they, the bees, do not go up there. Most likely what you are seeing is the Yellow Jackets, which at least around here, tend to nest in the ground not in trees or sheds where the Paper wasps do nest.

Here is a link that might be useful: Yellow Jackets

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RE: Ground Bees swarming! Don't Want to KILL them!

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Thank you for the link Kimmsr,
Here in Texas, Yellow Jackets nest in fruit trees (I got stung 26 times once when climbing a mulberry tree over in Fort Worth,by yellow jackets nesting in the tree!) and, indeed, in sheds. Yellow Jacket Wasps sting whenever they get a chance. They do not allow you to walk right up to them and NOT sting you. Bees, on the other hand, don't sting unless somebody is sending out scared vibes or picking on them. Yellow Jackets look different than bees. Do Yellow Jackets dance,have a lot of hair, and have black butts? The tiny flying fuzzy butts I am seeing are dancing and wiggling and seeming to communicate just like bees.

  
 

 

 


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