mammoth bees?

[MONKEYMOUSE]

Well I do landscaping and we were cutting a law near a small creak no big deal. I felt something large hit my head but didn't know what it was and forgot about it, When I turned around to make a pass the other direction I seen what had hit me. In a knot in a large old tree there was a rather big swarm of bees. At first glance they appeared to be normal honey bees, but they were nothing I had ever seen before. When i got a little closer I noticed that these bees were HUGE! They honestly weren't much smaller then a humming bird. There were also regular sized honey bees, these things looks like a small purse dog next to a bull mastiff. Has any one seen bees like this before or know anything about them? :think:

 

[Spine_Thrust]

Japanese hornets?

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/10/1025_021025_GiantHornets.html

http://www.edible.com/htmlsite/prod_list.asp?prodID=192&catID=4

As you read about these creatures, you will see that they feed on honey bees. A couple dozen JH's will destroy 1000's of honeybees in just a few hours.

If you get a chance to go back and observe what you witnessed, you will see severed heads of the honeybees that were laid to waste by the mighty hornet. What effinciency they have, eh?

 

[shiftless]

Yikes!!Monkeymouse, did you read that about the Japanese Hornets. If that is what you saw, I dont know if I would go back to look but I might tell the proper authorities about them. Those are some nasty devils. Who are the proper authorities? I'm not sure. I guess I might call the newspaper and they can send a reporter out to check it out and if it is the Japanese Hornet, they could do a story about it so that people would be aware of the danger.

 

[dirt bike dave]

Sounds like hornets. IMO, it is unlikely they are true Japanese Hornets (according to the link some hornets found in the US are mistakenly called Japanese hornets).

http://www.vespa-crabro.de/hornets.htm

 

[BadgerMan]

A small but highly efficient killing machine—a hornet two inches long and with a wingspan up to three inches—lurks in the mountains of Japan. The voracious predator has a quarter-inch stinger that pumps out a dose of venom with an enzyme so strong it can dissolve human tissue.

:yikes:

Run away........run away!

 

[High Lord Gomer]

Elk would be the proper authority to call. Don't tell him why you're calling him over, he'll figure it out once he gets there.

 

[XRpredator]

. . . but I might tell the proper authorities about them. Those are some nasty devils. Who are the proper authorities? I'm not sure.

The Bee Cops. Carlo is one of them

 

[MONKEYMOUSE]

It seems like that would be what I seen, there isnt a great picture of them on there though. But they had the same striping as the honey bees and looked very much the same but larger (from about 6ft away I was looking lol). I won't be back there untill next week when we do that lawn again. I'll try to give and update.

 

[Spine_Thrust]

Japanese hornets are unmistakable in their looks and size. I've seen them here in SC, they are freaking huge!

 

[motometal]

there's also the cicada killer. We had some of them hanging around our trees last year, they are the size of a small bird like you said, I didn't get too close to them-they other thing I noticed is that they were able to fly faster than I could run, so I kept my distance.

 

[a454elk]

Who the hell posts stuff like this, WTF! Gentle giants my arse. That's freaking wrong, close this thread already.

 

[MikeT]

Monkey, The proper authority would be the animal control division of your police department. If these are those deadly hornets, the police will be glad to come and get rid of them. I think if a small child came upon these things and got stung, the results would be really bad.

Please call them to at least take a look. No harm will be done if you call.