Observed Western Honey Bee activity around a feral hive.
Wild hive high up in a pine tree trunk.
Found a wild honeybee hive inside a large, dumped tire. Really amazing
Another photo of this wild bee colony showing how its external size varies through the day.
Another photo of this wild bee colony showing how its external size varies through the day.
Another view of the same wild colony I photographed yesterday. It varied in size throughout the day.
Nature Walk at San Antonio Mission Reach Area near San Juan. Bee combs / nest been there awhile...great to see in the the wild
After storms, came across this honey bee hive inside of a giant downed pine. Hopefully I’ll live another day, as I couldn’t help but sample! Delicious! No bees in sight?
—- (googled info below)
Feral or wild Apis mellifera honeybees are eusocial, meaning they live in large, well-organized colonies employing a strict division of labor in regards to building and maintaining hives and caring for offspring. Commonly building their hives in hollow trees, they are cavity dwellers, a characteristic that makes the species easily domesticated. In the wild, they will seek out an enclosed space with a capacity of 15 to 100 liters in which to build their hive. Once the bees have selected a suitable tree with a hollow trunk high enough off the ground to deter honey hunters and with a south-facing, downward-pointing entrance, they set to work preparing their new hive. The bees strip off outer layers of bark to smooth the walls, then seal and coat them with propolis or "bee glue" made from tree and plant resins in preparation for building wax honeycombs.
Wax comb remnants of a wild hive along Bruce Trail
Wild (did not appear to have split from the neighbors' hives) but docile. The whole hive , which was living in an oak tree, perished in the particularly harsh winter that followed.
Wild hive occupying a tree cavity.
Wild hive in live oak (Quercus wizlizenii) trunk 1m above ground
This wild hive showed up in our front yard a few years back. Sometimes they go away in the winter (although this winter they stuck around) and one time they were driven out by ants (possibly crazy ants.) They are non-aggressive and don't bother anyone.
Wild honeybee tree
waxy and under an oak tree, looks like someone raided a wild hive
Wild bee hive at base of oak tree.
Wild honey was harvested at this place
Feral (wild) western honey bee nest in rock crevice. At first I thought the bees were just collecting salts or minerals, but numbers were too large and saw male drone land and enter "nest". Also saw one bee carry out and deposit a dead sister bee.
Oct 15, 2020
Checked the nest and there were no live bees (see 3rd photo). The colony had either moved on or had died out.
Long distance shot: in opeing in cliff; many bees in attendance; wild hive.
wild bee colony in an old Platanus x hybrida tree in the botanical garden
Wild Colony of Western Honey Bees and their combs hanging in the pavilion by the DEEP Center.
A wild bee hive that has been in an old yellow box for at least 20 years. Strong hive.
Established wild honey bee hive in tree nook.
Relocating "wild" honey bees from underneath exterior wall of an old stable turned cottage.
Wild hive in hollow tree
Wild, Honey Bees in River Red Gum, Eucalyptus, camaldulensis, Hollow, Honeycomb is visible.
. The bees were small, quite lively, I did not want to get too close not upset them
a wild hive in the trunk of an oak tree
(wild hive located in hollow of tree)
Wild hive in the base of a tree. Lizard in the last pic at https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/82099112.
wild hive; one of two in the preserve
First time seeing a wild colony my dad suggested the we throw something at it. I was not amused…
Wild nest of honey bees in this tree.
Beautiful wild hive, combs in rock crevice.
Wild, many European Honeybees, Aphis meliferra, hive in big River gum spp tree hollow, bees were constantly on the move very hard to get in focus photos of them, Greenfields Wetlands, Mawson Lakes, SA, Australia.
Wild be hive in base of tree fall that has occurred between 9/2 and 9/9
Cool to stumble upon a wild beehive. Found some of it on the ground. It looks like the bees have more activity in a hole in the cliff next to the hive.
Wild bee hive, not native bees
A wild honeybee nest! A few metres up in a tree; found by my coworker Brittany Killingbeck @blkillin
Wild hive found in hollow of dead oak tree
Wild bee hive at the trunk base of large pepper tree.
Wild nest in Kanuka tree.
We found my first feral beehive in the wild along this dry wash, very cool to finally see the “bee space” structure.
I have posted observations of this 'wild' nest previously. I intend to keep an eye on it to see how they fare through summer and into autumn/winter.
While some bees are flying into holes in the (kanuka) trunk there are a lot visible and active on the surface (where honey may be exuding from inside the nest?)
wild living honeybee colony
feral colony
host tree - Salix fragilis
I have posted two previous observations of this 'wild' nest (26 Dec 2021 and 1 Feb 2022).
On this most recent occasion there was much reduced activity/numbers, enabling me to get photos of bees on the honey comb.
Photos taken with telephoto lens - nest about 2.5 metres above the ground.
Wild honey bee hive in a small tree hollow.
Wild hive, surrounded by poison ivy and not ideal to get closer for now.
The Final Nature Walk Find Was A Doozy
Went on a little nature walk with my daughter & 2 of my grandkids. The fourteenth and final thing we saw was as we were returning. We had to cross thru an area where a new housing development was starting up. This area had streets and brick walls up around plots of land with no houses yet. There was a hive of wild honeybees inside one of the brick walls. This is the opening where they were coming and going. A very cool thing to see. Nice way to end our nature walk.
The hole had been inhabited by a family of bees since at least 2018 when the owner bought the house, the previous owner also reported having had issues with bees in this same corner. The owner reported seeing this family swarming in 2021. The bees had been removed as requested by the landowner. Another wild hive of bees had been tracked down a dozen of metres away from this hive.
I found a trunk where bees have hive, could they be wild bees?
Very active wild hive in tree trunk.
These wild honey bees set up a hive in a slit in one of our older trees this summer. This afternoon around 3, a lot of them swarmed outside the hive with an intense buzzing. We are wondering if it is possible that the hive split (maybe with a second queen) and part of the hive moved to another tree? I don't know enough about bees, but we heard buzzing from another tree about 50 yards away from the first one... The photos were taken of the bees that remained with the original hive. These are wild bees that have taken up residence in a hollow tree at the edge of our woods.
Wild - large established colony
Apis meliffera - wild give in oak tree trunk.
I have been keeping an eye on this 'wild nest' over the last year (previous observations posted on 26/12/21, 1/2/22 and 28/4/22).
After falling to almost zero activity during the winter months (June-August), and taking some time to get going again, it is now in full swing with lots of bees coming and going and visible activity in the tree crevice (a large Kanuka).
a wild bee hive! not a swarm. this is a working hive.
Wild bee hive up in the cliff face, no idea what species or if identifiable
Wild bee hive honeycomb anchored in Oak tree trunk along Bucks Creek Trail. It looks like some bird or mammal had pecked or clawed at the honeycomb as a portion had fallen down into some lower oak tree branches (second photo).
Wild colony
Active wild hive in old growth Grey Box
Wild hive in a hollow of a blue oak
A wild hive that has taken residence in a cave entrance.
Wild hive in oak and rock crevice.
Documenting location of wild hive in rock outcrop.
Wild Honeybee Hive in Willow Tree: https://twitter.com/ChristosA89/status/1673707509800992769