Honey Bees?

8/22/2014

I walked outside and heard a noise that I have never heard on the mountain. I soon found it was the sound of thousands of bees. The cone flowers looked to be alive. After looking at closeups, I believe these are honey bees. If any of you know them to be a different species, I would love to know. In my twelve years on the mountain, I have never seen this much activity. Every flower bed, including the ones below camp, were buzzing with thousands of busy little bees. I sat and watched them for a few minutes and it was as if they didn't even notice me. They were so busy performing their duties, they had no time for me. I like to think there were so many because earlier in the season I kept after Chris to leave the dandelions alone when he was weedwacking. I had seen several articles on the importance of dandelions and their early season benefit to honey bees. I will say, my husband did a great job of leaving the ones around the edges of the buildings and the high concentration areas. What ever it was, it was great seeing that many little pollinators going about their day to day business.

Yesterday was a mix of sun and rain. We saw bits of blue skies and then we saw a few sprinkles later in the afternoon. The high was 69º with a low of 51º. We are currently under heavy cloud coverage with a small amount of precipitation. We are also experiencing large gusts of wind. If you are hiking up today, make sure you bring clothes to change into. The wind can make it chilly at the top.

Update: new photo as of August 22nd at 12 p.m.

Theresa Merck

8/22/2014 01:28:52 am

They are not honey bees.

norman

8/22/2014 01:45:59 am

any body know what kind of bee they are?

High On Leconte

8/22/2014 01:53:43 am

Thank you, Theresa. We would love to know what they are. It has been a crew discussion for the past 24 hours. Do you have any idea?

Theresa Merck

8/22/2014 01:55:00 am

I think it may be a species of digger bee. I have a poster with native North American bees pictured. Your picture is very close to the digger bee on the poster. There are many varieties of digger bees.
By the way, honey bees are not native to North America.
"Digger Bee, common name for a group of robust, fast-flying, ground-nesting bees with velvety fur. These bees live throughout the world. There are several thousand species, more than 900 of which occur in the United States and Canada. Digger bees visit a wide variety of flowers and are important in pollination. They are also called longhorned bees due to the exceptionally long antennae of the males.
Digger bees range from the size of a honey bee to as large as a bumble bee. These bees mostly nest in the ground and line their brood cells (compartments for offspring) with a waxlike secretion. In some species, the females construct a characteristic turret, a chimneylike extension of the nest entrance. Other digger bees nest in wood and some are parasites of other bees. Parasitic digger bees do not construct nests.

Digger bees display very interesting nesting and foraging behavior. Many species nest in dense aggregations, and swarms of males cruise around the nesting sites searching for emerging females. In one species, the males can detect the females in the ground before they emerge. These males dig a hole into the ground where the female will emerge and then await her arrival. Other males attempt to take over and fights ensue. The largest bee usually wins." http://www.everythingabout.net/articles/biology/animals/arthropods/insects/bees/digger_bee/

Tony Ga

8/22/2014 01:57:19 am

But can they sting?

Richard Childers

8/22/2014 02:45:29 am

I hate to disappoint but I think they are yellow jackets (yes, just like the Georgia Tech mascot). And yes, they will sting. They live in the ground and will sting if you step on their nest.

Tony Ga

8/22/2014 03:45:08 am

Yes, Yellow Jackets will sting. Found that out and thier nest the hard way.

norman ga. abr

8/22/2014 04:17:18 pm

Go Georgia Tech!!!

Jack

8/22/2014 03:51:06 am

Yikes!!! They ARE yellow jackets!!!

Theresa Merck

8/22/2014 04:13:06 am

I have never seen a yellow jacket with fur (real or pictured).

Lori

8/22/2014 04:25:39 am

Some sort of Mason bee, maybe?

Tony Ga

8/22/2014 04:29:02 am

Look like Digger Bees here:
http://kynaturalinquirer.blogspot.com/2013/06/buzzing-bees.html

Lori

8/22/2014 04:43:50 am

True, they do!
It would be so much easier if we could just ask them what they are. : )

Jarrett Morgan link

8/22/2014 04:50:37 am

If they are true bees, not digger bees or yellow jackets, they could be swarming. That's where a colony splits to form a new colony. The lodge might get its own bee colony soon.

High On LeConte

8/22/2014 05:29:21 am

I just posted a close up photo of the bee. They are around today, just not as numerous. It is not a yellow jacket. They are not aggressive at all.

High On LeConte

8/22/2014 05:37:27 am

I think I found it. They are not bees, they are hoverflies. http://www.ecolibrary.org/page/DP723

Lori

8/22/2014 05:54:17 am

Oooh, I'd like to have some of them to pollinate my garden!

Ken B

8/22/2014 09:17:54 am

Yes, it looks like a hoverfly. With over a hundred species it is a little difficult to ID for sure. ATBI only lists three species in the Smokies and none at the elevation of LeConte. You may want to contact them.

James W

8/22/2014 05:45:11 am

I think they are Japanese hornets look them up!! they are not yellow jackets and they are not honey bees! these things put me in the hospital, when they sting it does not feel like a bee sting they will take you to your knees with pain instantly! they also love to hover around lights, i was camping twice i have been stung by these if thats what they are! It feels like you have been hit withh a stick when they sting

James W

8/22/2014 05:49:37 am

Google (pictures of japanese hornets) and look at them! i took shots for two yrs and have to carry an epi pen when i hike! they nest inn the ground, and also in rotted wood logs!

TwistyP

8/22/2014 06:29:53 am

After looking up Digger Bees, Hoverflies, and Japanese Hornets, I vote for Hoverflies.

Mike

8/22/2014 08:01:42 am

Where's Doug Y when you need him? He'll know.

norman

8/22/2014 04:26:55 pm

Doug Y is campimg in Big South Fork Recreation Area near Pall Mall, Tn.

James

8/22/2014 08:29:09 am

Hoover Flies.

Tony Ga

8/22/2014 08:31:04 am

Hoverfly

Chingachgook

8/22/2014 08:44:50 am

Yes Mike i concur .

Bret

8/22/2014 10:20:56 am

Hoverflies have one set of wings, bees and wasps have two. So, this does look like a hoverfly.

doug y link

8/22/2014 11:19:32 am

Just got back home from four days in the Smokies and a nice hike on the Baskins Creek Trail which has two trailheads on the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. It's about a 3.5 mile hike from the first trailhead to Baskins Creek Falls which is a nice waterfall about forty feet in height, consisting of two "stages"; a nice hike. I paid the price, however, due to the bad knee and I shouldn't have undertaken it to begin with. But being out there overshadowed the discomfort. I commented in detail about it on my site.

I've read today's discussion on those bees / flies spotted at the lodge. Nice to see such comments, etc. Those are "Toxomerus Hover Flies". Had they been Yellowjackets, well, it would certainly have been a different story ! G'day

Dewey W

8/22/2014 01:14:35 pm

When I was growing up a long time ago, the old folks called them Good News Bees. If one of them flew a circle around you, you were going to get good news.

H Clark

8/22/2014 01:43:10 pm

There were several around at the summit of LeConte yesterday, but they were content with the plant life and did not seem agressive as I walked through the area.

steve

8/22/2014 02:14:03 pm

The hummingbird feeders in my yard have been overtaken by honeybees all summer. this is the first time in 25 years that we have seen this phenomenon. I know that those critters on Mt. Leconte aren't honeybees but bees are bees. Spiders are also every where this year. Does anyone else see a abundance of spiders this year ?

Tony Ga

8/22/2014 02:28:34 pm

Steve D, planning a hike next Friday. Up Trillium to LeConte down Rainbow weather permitting.

cboone

8/22/2014 04:02:56 pm

Doug,I bet you are crying about now.LOL We did Baskin Creek 3 or 4 yrs.ago and when we got to the waterfalls it was beautiful and so peaceful.It seemed we were going up hill all the way but I'm sure we weren't.If I remember it was rated as "Easy" but that is a wee-bit (not true).

norman

8/22/2014 04:34:33 pm

Doug , Didn't know you was back. Sorry to here about your knee!

norman

8/22/2014 05:06:05 pm

good to see all the comments. just looked at a youtube hike to baskin creek falls. need to do that one if i ever get back up there. good night.

doug y link

8/23/2014 04:48:57 am

Hey Norman: Yes, the Baskins Creek hike is a good one as a day hike; the falls are worth the effort. My knee ? It's been bad for four years, but after Sept 4th I will be on my way to returning to hiking with a vengeance ! And, I've never seen so many "Grandaddy Longlegs" spiders ! Hundreds of 'em on the trail ! I think I avoided stepping on any of them !
G'day

Joe

8/23/2014 04:09:24 am

They are Hoverflys - Syrphus ribesii. You can google it. The dead giveaway is the markings on the back. They are harmless.

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Honey Bees?

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