Bees out at night and swarming lights

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franklymydear
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2015 2:23 pm

Bees out at night and swarming lights

Post by franklymydear »

the last two nights we have had bees around our outdoor light fixtures. I heard that there was a new problem with bees and this behavior was a sign of it. I looked it up and found this website:
https://www.zombeewatch.org/
I registered, and I'm going to collect some bees and see if the larvae come out. Has anybody else had this problem?
Thanks!
Jacobs
Guard bee
Posts: 1854
Joined: Sat Feb 17, 2007 12:36 pm
Location: Greensboro, NC

Re: Bees out at night and swarming lights

Post by Jacobs »

I have almost completely stopped using my back floodlights. With hives in my back yard, I have had bees flying to the lights for as long as I have had bees. I have not had huge numbers going to the bulbs, but it is enough to keep the motion sensors from letting the lights turn off.

Let us know what you find out. I may have had an undiagnosed issue for years. If so, I cannot say that I have noticed any unexplained bad impacts that may have followed from a case of zombie bees.
Jacobs
Guard bee
Posts: 1854
Joined: Sat Feb 17, 2007 12:36 pm
Location: Greensboro, NC

Re: Bees out at night and swarming lights

Post by Jacobs »

Here is a link to some older information on our forum that may be related--
http://www.guilfordbeekeepers.org/commu ... fly+larvae
herbcoop
Forager
Posts: 91
Joined: Sat Feb 25, 2012 8:10 am
Location: Thomasville

Re: Bees out at night and swarming lights

Post by herbcoop »

It's not uncommon for me to see 2-3 on my back screen door in the morning, I figured these were late forgers that decided to land on the door since I leave the back deck light on for when my dog is out, by the time I get home in the afternoon they are gone. I've looked at them and on cold days and nights when I've seen them I have gotten a large leaf and carried them across the yard to a hive closest to the house, just figure that's where they came from since I've never seen bees on my door until I set this one up.
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