Oh no. A thousand bees on the furler

[team karst]

We will give the bees a day or so to move on. My previous experience with bees wearing wet suits was not favorable. That bear costume not good. They attacked my lips. Quite sure they were africanized, also bahamian. That time at GBI inland. This time at anchor a mile off the coast.

[HopCar]

The first few seconds of this video show a keeper handling a swarm. They are not defensive because they have no hive to protect. The rest of the video shows him removing a hive from a wooden column.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odehcZrvti4

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

They are swarming while looking for a place to build a hive. They won't stay long.

Yeah, and it's not like the boat is in the middle of a flowery meadow. Hard to imagine that bee programming would conclude that a boat is prime real estate.

Originally Posted by Tetepare

Hit them with a fire extinguisher. Then hose them away.

Nice to hear from the nature-lovers.

[JasonS]

We had a hive in our mast about a decade ago. Took three visits from a beekeeper to get rid of them. Honeycomb was attached to the spare halyard. Tried smoke. Didn’t work. Tried spraying chemicals. Didn’t work. We finally zip tied these plastic strips that had some chemical impregnated in them and that got rid of the swarm. About 5 years later had a “revisit”. Caught it immediately and did the following:
- turned on stereo loudly
- banged on the mast
- vibrated the sidestays
About two hours later the queen left with all her friends. No group visitors since, but rest assured every time a honeybee visits, I’m watching them!!!

[bullislandken]

That happened to us when we were anchored in Boqueron, Puerto Rico. There were billions, like a matt up to 3 inches thick in places. The mast looked crazy. The solar panels is where they got thick! I really didn’t know what to do. Then a fellow cruiser came by in his dinghy and took some pictures. I fired up the Yanmar, pulled up anchor and ran into the wind and some blew off in mats. My family is down below and it’s the only time I ever wore a rain parka in 2 years in the tropics. Then I had to return with the wind….no apparent for this 30 ft double ender with 27 horses. No problem. The bees were calm. I went and anchored and was able to get below without bringing more than a couple with me. The queen took a rest on our boat? That’s the story we liked. I think I got stung once? I was in my mid 40’s and my kids were young.

My daughter sent me a snail mail fathers day card. She is a young architect and she drew a nice sailboat for me. Happy Father’s Day to all of you dads.

[billgewater]

Well, I'll "bee" dammed! Now "hive" seen it all!

[team karst]

I shook the boom a little, this seemed to cause bee flight. Ten minutes later99% of the bees took off for parts unknown.
Curiously, around a dozen dead bees on deck, but we didnt use any chemicals, etc

[Clivevon]

Well done - interesting story about an unexpected hazard of boating. Glad all resolved OK with no damage to either party...

[Montanan]

Reach slowly into the main swarm and keep gently pulling out handfuls of bees. If you don't have the queen the bees will depart from your hand to go back towards her. Once you have the queen in hand, you can put her and the bunch of workers that are gathered on your hand into a box and the bulk of the hive will follow. Take the queen and the box to shore and depart.

The buzzing sound is really quite amazing. It is a tremendous experience to have hundreds of bees gathered on your hand and arm and not being stung.

My first time relocating a hive was during college when we were sitting in a hot tub enjoying cold beers and a swarm arrived and gathered in a plant located about a foot from the edge of the hot tub. My friend said: "Here, hold my beer!" and then he slid his hand into the swarm attempting to locate the queen; he then had my roommate and I join him in the effort, also placing our hands into the swarm with each of us repeatedly trying to gather the queen. I got lucky after about four tries, I then walked with the swarm in hand through the main lobby of the apartment complex and out to the creek side and shook the bees off my hand and arm and then went back to soaking in the hot tub.

If they do settle on your boat, you will be able to have loads of fresh raw honey to harvest, albeit that could make for sticky sails.

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by team karst

I shook the boom a little, this seemed to cause bee flight. Ten minutes later 99% of the bees took off for parts unknown.
Curiously, around a dozen dead bees on deck, but we didnt use any chemicals, etc

Yes, well done. Thanks for your patience and perseverance. Minimal harm all around, and now you have another interesting cruising story.

[SailSonoma]

This happened to me too, just yesterday. I think that they are looking for water/food. In the USVI, we have had a drought here for about 5 months.

[rmorrison]

What you're looking at is a "swarm" of bees in search of a new place to call home. This is a natural phenomena when a bee colony that has outgrown it's home "splits" with half the colony remaining, and half the colony(with queen) leaving to find a new tree, soffit, or furler!

"swarms" are VERY docile. They have no young or food stores to protect, so you will rarely find them antagonistic. They usually hang out for a day or so, and move on to find better accommodations.

You can likely weigh anchor with them hanging out on the furler ( they are that docile) They have no interest in you or your anchor! Guy raising anchor might be a little nervous, but you'll likely see there's no need to be.

If they are physically on chain, or there is another reason you cannot raise anchor, you can spray them with water, or pitch a bucket of water on the swarm. Yes, they won't be happy, and I'd recommend going below for a few minutes thereafter, but that should do it. It may take a second rinse as they will still be attached to queen pheromones' (scent) that was on your furler.



can't wait for their departure,

[Factotum]

Here on the Gulf Coast, my daughter called and told me that some bees were coming out of the ceiling can lights on the first floor of their two-story house. They turned out to be honey bees, and the hive was in the ceiling joists near the exterior of the house. Fortunately, she had just removed the carpet in the upstairs bedroom to prepare to install hard flooring.

A beekeeper was called. He cut a hole in the subfloor, used a smoke device to calm the bees, and then sucked all of the bees up into a container with a vacuum machine. After that, he scraped all of the honey and wax from the area. Finally, he sprayed white vinegar into the area and wiped it down real well. He explained the bees will come back to the smell of a prior hive and the only way to get rid of the smell was a vinegar rinse and wash.

[gears]

Probably just a swarm, should leave within a day or so, leave them be and they will take off on their own.
I am a beekeeper in Nevada USA

[Rumrace]

Stupid question are you sure they are bees? They are acting like hornets. Bees are nice hornets fubar. Deny bees water they will leave. Smoke works great to subdue them fire extinguisher would kill them and any electronics near by.