What bugs me about Arizona...

[Hellen A. Handbasket]

Normally nothing bugs me about Arizona. This week it is THE BUGS!

WTF?!!! This is what I discovered yesterday early afternoon in my courtyard:

That's BEES.

That thickness is ALL bees!

OBVIOUSLY I was inside the house taking these from upstairs through a 2nd story window! Skeeeeryyyyyy.

We had this same thing happen just last March! Not nearly as many.

THEN I discovered a few had made their way IN THE HOUSE from the can ceiling light fixtures upstairs, so that means they're inside the attic too!

So, I called BeeBee's (lol... a bee exterminator) in a panic and holed up in the downstairs of the house all day yesterday (my car is parked right outside the courtyard gate so there was no leaving) since I didn't want to take the chance that the bees were Africanized (and would make a BEE line for me!).

BeeBee's was busy (as a bee) (OW! Okay I'll stop!!) so I had to wait until this morning for them to get here.

The kid that showed up had his mouth hanging open when he saw them. Said he'd only seen one other group near this large. I figured as much since he got out his ladder to reach the roof and stood there taking pictures on his iphone for 5 minutes. LOL

He said he thinks the bees from last time must have made a honeycomb in the attic and these were attracted to it since they're in the exact same spot as last time. Great...

Out came the hose, and he started spraying them with pesticides (which I hated, but there isn't any other way when they are making HONEYCOMBS!).

After he sprayed them with several gallons (a LOT) from a high pressure stream hose on his truck, he started knocking them off in big wads (and they were MAD). Can you see all of them around him?

He was knocking them off into a tarp and could hardly lug the tarp out of there. Yikes. He estimated that there were over 4,000 bees.

$160 later... I still have bees flying in the courtyard. After 5 days he said they'd be gone from outside, and then I have to go up in the attic to see if there is a honeycomb in there (or they'll come back again). Not looking forward to that.

So, he leaves and I take the dogs outside and sit in the sun to relax. The dogs are going crazy over something big that is flipping around in the granite yard so I race over there (thinking it is a snake).

This is what I find:

Moar WTF!!!

I get the dogs away from it and it is flipping and thrashing around in the gravel. I'm afraid to touch it at first, but then decide it is some kind of giant horn worm. I go get a plastic bag to pick it up with. It is unreal strong and kinda scary. I took pics of it in the house, then threw it over the fence into the common area in the neighborhood (we live on a corner). I don't want to hurt it (I've caused enough bug carnage today, ha) but I DON'T want it to live in my yard.

Blech oogy!!

Turns out, it is a Hawk Moth or Sphinx Moth caterpillar. Yikes! I've lived here in Arizona all my life and I've seen horned worms before, but NEVER one that big. Looks like it may be from what is called a Hummingbird Moth (common in Arizona). I've seen the hummingbird moths, but never the big ol' caterpillar that they come from. Amazing something that ugly becomes something so cool later.

I had a nice Entomology lesson for the week, so thought I'd share. Like I don't have enough weird stuff and stress going on around here?

I'm going to go have a nice glass of wine and go take a nap now I think! It was a looooooooooooong week. Later I'll have a margarita (or two), some Mexican food and go see the Jackass 3D movie with Ron. I could use a good laugh.

Enjoy YOUR weekend and don't let anything BUG you.

 

[jj2]

I think the world is in a bad karma phase. I mean I've had some really off things happening to me---to the point I'm beginning to think I'm jinxed!!!
Nothing involving bugs though.

At least not yet!!!

 

[vapeopotamus]

Holy BEE-Jesus thats a lot of BEE's! I wouldn't be able to sleep at night I would have hi-tailed it to the car or something and gotten out of there. No bee's for me please!

 

[Hellen A. Handbasket]

jj2 - Yeah, that's how I'm feeling lately... it's been never ending. I've been a good doo BEE though, so shouldn't have this much on my plate. Hmmmmm

Greg, I guess I could have sent the bees your way (the ones that lived anyway). LOL It's only a few blocks after all! Keep an eye out. The bee guy said they're bad here right now.

Oh wine! I knew I forgot something after I posted. LOL

 

[debb]

wow! that's a lot of bees..amazing looking tho...!! let us know what you find in the attic.....

 

[skydragon]

Helen,

If they were making HoneyCombs then I assume they were honey bees. Couldn't they have done something other than kill them since honeybees are becoming endangered? I don't blame you for needing them out of there, I just wonder if there is a way to remove them other than kill them. Actually, if there is a honeycomb, couldn't the exterminator have removed it and then don't they leave?

Maybe they escaped from a bee keeper. There sure were a lot of them. Did the guy tell you how all of a sudden there could be so many.

 

[Hellen A. Handbasket]

Hiya Sky. Yeah, I'm sure they were European Honey Bees. Sad. They're an extremely important bug (and I don't mind them at all, they make my Mexican Lime tree produce great each year!). However, when bees nest inside of a wall or are creating a threat to humans or animals, unfortunately the only route is destruction in most cases. It's obvious (from the honeycombs being built and bees inside the house) that they were inside nesting in the attic and were planning to live in my house. Sorry, no room at the inn! They had to go.

Next time (hopefully, there won't be one!), I'll try and find a bee keeper to come get them. Yeah, I know... wish that light bulb would have gone on before I called BeeBee's, but I was freaked out. LOL I asked him if he could just suck them up in a hose or something when he got here. No dice... It was like watching a mass murder and I have to still clean up the carnage (there are hundreds of little bodies in my courtyard, all the way down the driveway and on my car!!). I have to wait a week to wash it down and there are still bees flying around out there. I hope I don't have the Karma of 4,000 murdered bees to carry around. Poop I'll try to get a better outcome next time!

 

[bigboom]

I like bees. Too bad a keeper couldn't have come to the rescue, but I get wanting to get rid of them.

Plant some flowers and start restoring good kharma

 

[markmcs]

It was either you or them! lol Wild pictures, though.

 

[bukkaroo]

Wow, that's insanity, I'd have crapped the bed if I saw that! And that caterpillar was crazy too. Thanks for sharing the pics. Should have thrown jujuBEES as them and maybe they'd have left!

 

[skydragon]

Hiya Sky. Yeah, I'm sure they were European Honey Bees. Sad. They're an extremely important bug (and I don't mind them at all, they make my Mexican Lime tree produce great each year!). However, when bees nest inside of a wall or are creating a threat to humans or animals, unfortunately the only route is destruction in most cases. It's obvious (from the honeycombs being built and bees inside the house) that they were inside nesting in the attic and were planning to live in my house. Sorry, no room at the inn! They had to go.

Next time (hopefully, there won't be one!), I'll try and find a bee keeper to come get them. Yeah, I know... wish that light bulb would have gone on before I called BeeBee's, but I was freaked out. LOL I asked him if he could just suck them up in a hose or something when he got here. No dice... It was like watching a mass murder and I have to still clean up the carnage (there are hundreds of little bodies in my courtyard, all the way down the driveway and on my car!!). I have to wait a week to wash it down and there are still bees flying around out there. I hope I don't have the Karma of 4,000 murdered bees to carry around. Poop I'll try to get a better outcome next time!

I would have freaked too Helen. I didn't mean to make you feel bad. I was just a little surprised that the exterminator didn't even think of trying to save them. But, I guess that is why they are called exterminators. I think some states require them to try and save them now but I could be wrong.

I will say that I would be a little leery of going into the attic to check for honeycombs. Have you checked yet?

I think sucking them up is the way beekeepers do it. Pretty sure I saw that on T.V. once.

Lime trees. Cool!

And you won't have bad Karma.

 

[SheerLuckHolmes]

One of my best buddies used to be a critter getter. The best thing to get rid of bees is to spray them with a solution of soupy water. Yes that's right, wash your dishes and then suck up the suds into a srayer and give them a shower. I would bet money that is what your guy sprayed them with. Didn't know your were doing your dinner dishes in $160.00 worth of pestiside solution, did ya?

Karma has nothing to do with it. You were just using your BeeBee from AltSmoke too much.

 

[Hellen A. Handbasket]

I'll bee (snicker) venturing in the attic next weekend. Went and got some foam insulation to spray to help keep anything else out ever again. We'll see what's up there. Scary.

Barry, you can come over and spray bees with my dish water next time. I'm afraid I'm not that brave. What ever he used killed them dead on contact. A bit stronger than dish water I'm afraid. Not many survivors and no sign of a single bee in the courtyard today. Plenty in my back yard visiting the Lantana flowers though. A good thing!

 

[STiCaveman]

The best thing to get rid of bees is to spray them with a solution of soupy water. [...] I would bet money that is what your guy sprayed them with. Didn't know your were doing your dinner dishes in $160.00 worth of pestiside solution, did ya?

What ever he used killed them dead on contact. A bit stronger than dish water I'm afraid.

Actually, what Barry is stating, is that soapy water will kill bees on contact within a few seconds depending on soap level. We have to use soap, since we can't use any chemicals near our aviary. I have used a water bottle sprayer to literally knock them out of the air.

Our citrus trees near the aviary have been targeted numerous times, and we sometimes have to "discourage" bees from establishing a hive so the breeders/babies don't get attacked. While we prefer to simply make the new queen relocate, sometimes we have no choice. Also, AZ has had far too many africanized cases (since 1993) to take unnecessary chances.

If they were making HoneyCombs then I assume they were honey bees.

Both kinds are honey bees, just from different continents.

An africanized mass can consist of mostly "safer" European bees, and you can't tell the difference by simply looking at them. Once the more aggressive bees begin releasing the "attack" pheremone, even the calmer European drones will react on instinct.
Both will make hives for reproduction, the honey/comb is simply a by-product.

 

[silkakc]

Beekeepers love to come and capture the swarms! I've had a honeybee swarm attach to a maple tree and a beekeeper lady came and got them all in the box easily. It was amazing to see. Those bees have to be protected because they are getting scarce.