Attracting bees to rocks in a sleeping position.

RandellMorgan · June 24, 2009, 04:22:09 AM

I live in Mexico about 2 hours underneath Mexico city. Two days ago I was at the lake near my home and I stumbled across over 100 bees relatively still clinging to a rock all bunched together. I found these bees as the sun was going down. I took a picture that can be found at my blog here: RandellMorgan.com

1. I am wondering what is going on here as I have never seen anything like this.

2. I would like to recreate this on a series of balanced rocks such as the ones in the pictures also at the above blog link.

So, any ideas on how I should go about this?

I like that the bees in the picture are still and not flying around - I was thinking about pouring apple juice over the rocks in order to attract the bees but I do not want them moving around too much if possible I would like to recreate what was happening naturally in the picture as I would prefer to have still bees all clustered together and not flying around. What is the best way to attract bees to a rock?

THANK YOU - I don't know anything about bees so your expertise is very much appreciated.

Randell Morgan

Hethen57 · June 24, 2009, 02:12:12 PM

OK...I'll bite...

What you probably saw was a swarm of bees that landed on the rock becasue their queen landed on the rock. A swarm is a group of bees who have left their home and are looking for a new home. Swarms do not stay in a location like that very long, as they need to find a more secure place to live and build comb. I doubt you could attract a swarm with syrup or juice...but you will probably attract ants.

If you wanted to duplicate a photo like that on a prop, and you were willing to spend a few bucks to do it...find a beekeeper who will partner with you on the project. Buy a package of bees and put the queen cage where you want the bees....and all the bees will cluster in a clump over the queen and be gentle. Then after you take your photos, the beekeeper can put the bees in a hive and everyone is happy.

Vibe · June 24, 2009, 02:45:09 PM

Do Hornets swarm?

Would spraying the rocks with lemongrass work?

danno · June 24, 2009, 03:02:37 PM

Spraying lemongrass and syrup would attract bee's but just cause a feeding frenzy and they wont cluster like this. They will be coming and going.
The picture is really beautiful by the way

Hethen57 · June 24, 2009, 03:27:50 PM

Now that someone else has checked out the website (I'm leery of viruses :roll:), I decided to take a look. Very cool photo. It is interesting how they are circling the rock, not just clumped there. Maybe they are not honeybees at all...can't really tell from the photo.

Vibe · June 24, 2009, 03:59:25 PM

I was thinking that their color was a bit "off".

Eshu · June 24, 2009, 04:01:37 PM

I like the photos on your site.

It is hard to tell if they are honeybees or not. It looks like the color balance or saturation was modified. Could there have been an underground nest beneath the rock?

I think Hethen57 is right. If you want to replicate the effect with honeybees you would have to have a caged queen and a bunch of workers. It would essentially be the same as creating a bee beard. Of course you would want a beekeeper to help do that.