orezok
Elite Member
Last year I only saw about a dozen bees all summer. Just now I went to look at my peach trees which are in blossom and they are covered in bees. YEAH! :thumbsup:
If they are honey bees, be careful. Unless a bee keeper moved into the area, they are probably from a feral hive somewhere nearby. Wild honey bees in your part of the country are usually Africanized which are much more protective of their hive than their European counterparts that bee keepers use. If you find a hive in a wall, hollow tree, or somewhere else, do not approach it. Contact someone that knows how to deal with bees safely.
Our bees in Maine are fine European bees....unless a migratory bee keeper accidentally brings an Africanized hive up from Florida for pollination. Africanized bees do not survive the winters up here. But they are big in southern California, the southwest, Florida and some other southern states.
European honey bees do not live in the ground. They are cavity dwellers....hollow trees, walls, etc. Africanized bees will sometimes live in a cavity in the ground but I don't believe that is too common.
There are many species of native bees that nest in the ground and maybe that is what you have.
Either way, I thought I would be nice to warn you of the possibility that you might have Africanized honey bees that can be extremely dangerous. I never said the sky is falling, but there are lots of dangerous creatures in our world that deserve respect and caution. They did not call the Africanized honey bees "Killer Bees" for no reason. They can be extremely dangerous if you encroach upon their nest. Foraging in the field away from the colony, no problem...... But get near their nest and they may protect that nest in large numbers and chase the intruder for as much as a mile.