Bee Swarm Discovers B&B in Americus

Last Friday was a very busy day for us in many ways. It was a holiday weekend and a swarm of bees came for a visit. Click on the photos to see a larger view to truly appreciate what you are looking at.

Kim was looking out the window and said "Something's swarming". We live in Southwest Georgia. Many insects swarm. We had no idea what it was until we went outside and looked up.

I grabbed the camera and took the first few photos outside and then took this one from the inside.

The bees were hitting the windows. It looked like it was raining bees, just like an Alfred Hitchcock movie.

Back outside, the bees were clumping up near the roof.

It looked like they were dripping down the side of the house like honey.

But, slowly, they were disappearing from view as they found their way into a nice, safe place through a crack in the siding and the trim.
We called everyone we could think of who might know how to deal with a swarm of bees that had just decided to take up residence in our home. Unfortunately, as it was Friday of Memorial Day weekend, our options were limited. We spoke with the Agricultural Extension agent, we spoke with a farmer, we spoke with a beekeeper, we looked online.

By Monday, we were unable to find anyone who might be available to assist for at least a week, and from reading about honeybees, we knew that waiting a week would be a problem. A local beekeeper in nearby Leslie suggested that we spray orange oil into the cracks as the bees do not like it and might abandon their new home IF they were not totally established. Kim went on the roof, as covered as possible to avoid being stung, with a makeshift sprayer sprayed orange oil into the crevices. He did this many times throughout the day.

Finally, we did not see any further bee activity coming or going through the siding.

There must have been thousands of these little creatures. Did you know that a queen honeybee can lay up to 2000 eggs per day? That's the number that got us a little nervous about waiting a week or more for help.

We brought in all these beautiful plants with all these fragrant flowers that the bees love. Little did we know that they would decide to move in with us.

Thanks for allowing me to share our latest adventure.