The Bees Are Back

Last week as I was driving with Gus to our Therapy Dog appointment I noticed a large swarm of what I at first thought were gnats. I remember thinking it was the biggest bunch I had seen and it seemed early in the year for that. But I'm not a biologist, so what do I know?

As I got closer and eventually drove underneath the swarm I realized it was not a gnat swarm, rather it was a swarm of bees. I was glad they were flying higher than my car so I didn't drive through them.

I didn't think much more about the bee swarm until this weekend. It seems another swarm has taken residence in one of the pine trees by the sheep pen.

I was reminded of two other incidences when we had bee swarms. The most recent was last year in June. You can click here for the beginning of that story. The first time we had an encounter with a bee swarm was a few years ago. A swarm had decided to overnight in the olive tree by our driveway and garage. At that time we tried to find someone to take the bees, but no bee farmers were interested and the pest control wanted too much money. We were advised that the bees were probably resting for a day or two and they would most likely be gone on their own. And that is what happened.
I'm hoping these will follow suit. The bees from last year had found a spot to make their hive in. It was an enclosed area, and not open like the tree branches.

Imagine my surprise as I was reading another blog yesterday that showed a picture of a swarm of bees that had taken to a branch in one of their trees. It was Roberta's blog. (It's on her April 13, 2008 entry. You may have to keep hitting the "refresh" button. Yahoo seems to have a problem with that...)

It must be that time of year.