Bee problem

[astroboy76]

Hi, does anyone else have any issues with bees? my brother and i and finding more and more bees plaguing our bonsai. they dont seem to be bothering with the flowers as much as they are eating? drinking? the soil or the moisture from the soil out of the bottom of the pots. perhaps they are taking nutrients from the soil?? i have no idea, but soem days we have so many bees on our bonsai we cant get to them of fear of being stung (i am allergic).

has anyone else ever had this problem and if so, how did you fix it?

[Japh]

Wow! That's crazy! Not even after the flowers? What do you guys water your trees with? Sugar water?

But seriously... it might help to know what you have put on your trees, in the sense of what soil mix, what fertilisers, what other sprays or liquids?

Or, possibly even you're washing the good bits off the flowers when you water your bonsai, thus making the water the more interesting bit to the bees??

[astroboy76]

wel, we use bonsai potting mix we got from flower power and we fertilise using seasol. its strange cos the little water holes in the bottom of black plastic pots is where the bees are going. its unbelieveable the amount of bee's we get. i am hesitant to kill them though. dont liek the idea of spraying them etc. plus i dont want to anger them and get stung...

[Jonden]

I had this happen about a month ago, but only on 1 bonsai, a Juniper. The bees stayed for about 2 weeks then disappeared. I thought they were going to build a hive under the pot there were so many of them.
Have no idea what this behaviour is. Does anyone have any suggestions.
Cheers, Jonden

[kcpoole]

I have had this problem for a while ( several Years) at my old house
Someone locally had a hive or 2, but could never figure out where they were so could not get them removed.

The bees are after the water, and as we constantly water our trees they have a guaranteed supply.
They were never agressive and would never land so just ignored them and never worried me or my family ( i am semi allergic).

The only way to stop them will be to remove the hive if you can find it. Or cover you trees and area with Fly wire to stop them getting the moisture. This woud be a pain for me but maybe OK for you.

I eventually fixed the problem by moving house!. No bees here, Just a friendly Magpie

Good luck
Ken

[BoNZai]

Just wondering if it is the Seasol, I have been making seaweed extracts for a few years now using kelp from the local beach. at a certain point in the brewing process, it attracts a lot of bees. They seem to lay eggs just above the waterline in the drum. A few weeks later they are all gone.
I think that the brewing process reaches a certain level where the bees are attracted to the sugars.

I have just taken a Brix reading of my kelp brew that I started 3 weeks ago and it is reading 4 degrees. I also taken a reading of Seasol and it showed a reading of 18.

Just to explain what this all means: We use the brix reading to ascertain the sugar levels in grapes. It gives a measure of maturity and tells us when to harvest. the higher the brix, the more sugars are present
Grapes are harvested around 20-25 degrees

Just wondering if you should discontinue Seasol on some plants and see if the bees disappear. Also put a small open container with diluted Seasol amongst the plants and see if it attracts bees.

Hope this helps,

BoNZai

[Mojo Moyogi]

I found that bees are very attracted to fish emulsion, but I am not sure about seasol. Bees are considered beneficial insects in our garden.

Cheers
MM

[Bretts]

No bees here, Just a friendly Magpie

wonder how friendly it will be in breeding season

[BoNZai]

I agree! Got attacked twice last week during a cycle ride! Got holes in my helmet to prove it.
At least we are allowed to shoot them in NZ

boNZai

[Gary Bee]

G/Day!

Bees are my other passion

For really good health the Honey Bees (Apis Mellifera) prefer slightly salty water, hence Bonsai Pots with their salts contained in the fertilizers used.
Salt Water Swimming Pools are also a real attraction.

Why not put out a saucer of saline solution for the girls, topped up with gravel? that will draw them to a quieter part of your Bonsai benches.

A healthy hive will consume 1Kg of water per day during the height of the summer, so water is very critical to their survival.
They use the water among other things, to cool the hive which operates at a temperature of approx 35 Degrees Celsius.
Honey Bees can at times be aggressive but usually they will only sting if they are threatened or injured.
If you are buzzed, retreat some distance carefully and no harm is done.

The worst thing you can do is wave the arms and slap at the "buzzer" as the bee will release an "Alarm" pheremone and then you really do have to retreat to the indoors. The "alarm" pheremone will excite another 5 or 6 Bees who zero in on the area and it really is time to leave the girls alone.

Hope this adds and helps

Regards
Gary
<](:-))

[BoNZai]

Thanks for the info gary.

Can you shed some light why the bees are attracted to my kelp emulsion? It looks like they are lying eggs above the water line in the drum. They just sit there and leave masses of white substance behind

Cheers

BoNZai

[Deadwood]

I am lucky enough to have European Wasps drink from the base of my pots. Not all of them make it back alive.

Ad.

[Japh]

Thanks for the info gary.

Can you shed some light why the bees are attracted to my kelp emulsion? It looks like they are lying eggs above the water line in the drum. They just sit there and leave masses of white substance behind

Cheers

BoNZai

I dont think any old female bee in the hive can just start laying eggs randomly... so I would assume this was something else going on for you. Will be interested to see what Gary Bee has to say about it

[kcpoole]

No bees here, Just a friendly Magpie

wonder how friendly it will be in breeding season

It is Breeding season

I have found that if you feed them they will learn to recognise you and people you associalte with. Once you are their Mate, they will not hassle you again

I have done this over several locations and populations of birds and had the same response from them all
Very smart they are

ps
Maggies do not like red shirts. someone in red will get attacked before anyone else

Ken

[Gary Bee]

G/Day! BoNZai,

I'm not sure about the kelp, other than the Girls' preference for the salt. There could be other minerals perhaps that entice them.
The white substance has me baffled completely. Are you sure it is the bees which secrete this substance?

It certainly is not eggs. Only the Queen Bee lays eggs and she very rarely leaves the hive. Her eggs are laid in the bottom of each cell and are then attended to by the nurse bees who care for the egg and then the grub right up to the pupae stage when they cap the cell.

Are you positive they are Honey Bees BoNZai?

I'm off to the Bee Club on Wednesday night, so I will ask a couple of the oldtimers if they know.

Regards
Gary
<](:-))