Bees in the trees

gunny · July 04, 2007, 08:52:20 AM

Out in the yard early (sun was just over the horizon) this morning doing chores and heard bees in one of my pecan trees. Sounded like a whole lot of them and first though it might be a swarm. First thing that ran through my mind was where can I borrow an empty super this early in the day on the 4th. Looked for the swarm and couldn't find it, then started looking for individual bees and saw a lot. They were landing on the leaves walking around a little and flying off, back towards the hive. All of my bees are Italian and did notice some of my neighbors Russians and a few of what I think are hybrids. No feeding or pollen gathering activity seen. 4 pecan trees in close proximity, bees in only 1 of them. Activity seemed to be limited to only one side of the tree.
Any thoughts or comments?

JP · July 04, 2007, 10:59:52 AM

Perhaps a swarm already set up shop on that side of that tree, keep an eye on it. Or perhaps you had a swarm on the tree that vacated to somewhere else, and the bees are sensing the queen pheremone. Or, hey its the 4th, and they are settin' up for a big bbq! :-D

Deb-Bee · July 04, 2007, 11:46:31 AM

We had this happen. It was basically a Chinese fire drill that preceeded an actual swarming event. At that point we figured it was going to be difficult to convince them not to swarm so we put a swarm bucket up in the branches of the tree near where they had been congregating (about 6 feet up in a fruit tree). Sure enough, the next day they swarmed. Did they go into the swarm bucket? Of course not! They landed 25-30 feet up in a fir tree in the neighbor's yard. My husband climbed up there with a bee vac and brought them home. Put them in a nuc and eventually merged them back into the original hive. Best of luck to you!

gunny · July 05, 2007, 07:57:46 PM

Doesn't appear to be swarm related. Early mornings there are a lot of bees in/on one side of one of my pecan trees. About noon, none to be found. Next morning there they are again. 4 days in a row now. Wnder what the attraction is. Not blooming, no pollen, no nectar.
Parking under one of these trees over night results in fine drops of something on the glass, a little on the sticky side, washes right off with water.
Strange, just go tme curious as to what the attraction might be.

Bubba · July 05, 2007, 08:07:27 PM

They are probably collecting honeydew. They get it from oak tree's as well. :)

doak · July 05, 2007, 08:58:12 PM

It's likely honeydew.
doak

JP · July 05, 2007, 09:01:55 PM

Do pecan trees put out honeydew? But the first thing that came to mind when you said you have sticky stuff on the glass was honeydew. So it seems it would be so.

jl · July 05, 2007, 10:05:22 PM

What the heck is honeydew?

JP · July 05, 2007, 11:22:14 PM

Honeydew is a secretion that some ants and aphids secrete when they feed on certain plants, in fact carpenter ants are often found in close proximity to aphids, as they will feed on their secretions. Now, I don't know if trees actually emit honeydew, I believe its just the insects that do this but, maybe someone else can chime in here.

Cindi · July 06, 2007, 10:08:16 AM

I was thinking maybe honeydew or propolis. I think that propolis can be gathered from the leaves of trees, as well as the other parts of the trees, but I am not positive on that. Great day, great life. Cindi

gunny · July 06, 2007, 08:15:04 PM

Well that makes sense.