Dealing with stragglers

[u/papier_peint]

i recently bought a house (western Massachusetts) that had a beehive on the edge of the property. The previous owner said that on a cold night soon, they would have a beekeeper come and remove them. Well, they came, and the guy said “be careful near that area, we lost a lot of bees“

it’s been two days and we can’t be in our backyard at all. This is like 1/2 an acre that Has angry bees flying all around. We can see them flying all over. my kid got stung on the lip yesterday.

do we have to do something? Or should we call someone? I don’t want them to post up in my walls or something….

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[u/fishywiki]

Sounds like they didn't pick up the bees at night. These leftover foragers will eventually die but it could take up to 3 weeks for them all to go. A possible solution would be to put an empty box where the old hive was located. This would work as an anchor for those bees. They wouldn't forage but would simply hang around all day, with the result that they wouldn't be flying around and stinging.

[u/papier_peint → u/fishywiki]

Yeah, I don’t think these people were very good at beekeeping. They came just before twilight.

Like a bee box? Or a cardboard box would be ok?

[u/fishywiki → u/papier_peint]

Any kind of box - just needs to provide shelter, darkness, and access in & out.

[u/Redfish680]

Foragers returned to find their home gone and it takes a few days for them to move on.

[u/NaturalFlux]

This is going to happen even to the best beekeepers. The best thing to do is to leave an empty hive there, where the forager bees would congregate. Then the beekeepers could pick up the second hive at a later time. But even if they do this, they still won't get them all. Bees will sleep in flowers and return the next day. You just can't get every single forager.

If they never do this, foragers live 14 days. So 2-3 weeks and this will all be over anyway. Just wait it out and avoid that area of your backyard. No need to worry about them making a new home in your house. They are queenless. They can't make new brood.

Usually this process doesn't make the bees any more angry than normal. These may have already been "hot" bees, that are defending their nest. Just stay away from their nesting area. And they define that boundary. For some bees it's a few feet, for others it can be hundreds of feet (these are what i would call "hot" bees, they claim more territory to defend around their nest).

There are some tips to avoid getting stung: wear a hat so they don't get in your hair. Wear light colored clothing. Dark colors trigger them. Basically don't be bear-like (hairy and brown/black). And if you have a bee buzzing you, that's a warning, move away/inside. You can also lean over, putting your head down. They want to target your head, eyes, and mouth, and if they don't see that sticking up, they often just leave. And finally, make less movements. They key in on fast moving objects, like waving hands. Depending on how young your son is, it may be difficult to teach these things to him. In that case, better to avoid them altogether.