Nature and Gardening

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All things green, outdoors, and nature-y. Whether it's animals in their natural habitat, hiking trails and mountains, or planting a little garden for yourself (and everything in between), you can talk about it here.

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Beekeepers of Beehaw: tell me about honey bee activity patterns in general please (self.greenspace)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by TheOtherJake to c/greenspace

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I'm looking for the farmer's almanac, anecdotal type of information more than anything scientific or generalized.

Specifically, I'm curious about typical behavior in Southern California coastal regions, and really, the micro climate within a few miles of the Pacific around the Los Angeles Basin, but I think that is a bit too specific of a question for a small community here.

I am developing an increased allergic reaction to stings. I have probably gotten around 2-3 dozen stings while riding a bike for the last 2 decades. I have mostly limited myself to riding in the last hour or two of daylight which seems to avoid bees. I'm curious if there are patterns of predictable/probabilistic inactivity other than the day/night cycle.

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[–] beek 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Not from California, but for the most part, domestic honeybees will only sting when they feel threatened. You’re more likely to be stung around a hive during a nectar dearth, when the hive is Queen-less, etc. And from what I’ve heard, some hives are just assholes (thankfully never experienced that with my own hives) and always protect themselves — but that’s almost always when you’re in close physical proximity.

If you’re getting stung on a bike, I’d say you’re either near an active hive(s), in which case you can change your route if you locate the hive, or (perhaps more likely) you aren’t getting stung by honeybees. Where I live, wasps are the more likely culprit.

You’re anecdotal pattern is pretty spot on, you’ll notice less bee/pollinator activity as daylight draws to a close. Early mornings are usually fine too. Following the flowering pattern in your region can help too — more flowers, more bees (though again, honeybees are very unlikely to sting you far from their hive), and as fall sets in, the nectar dearth starts to impact behavior.

[–] TheOtherJake 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The issue with bikes is usually speed, bright colors, the holes in the helmet seem to be an attractive target. The heat inside a dark hole is probably a bad thing. At 20+ mph on impact they are not happy. A lot of my stings are on the legs after they fly into my sunglasses; or I into them. The main cause is misguided people that plant lots of flowers next to bike trails. I've had a dozen or more from a quarter mile of some kind of hedge bush barrier that has red flowers most of the year here. The area I ride in has really intense differences in microclimates withing a very short distance. Most of the year there is a moving transition atmospheric region where the desert dry air and ocean dominated pattern fight it out. I can ride 10 miles in nearly a straight line and have both an intense head and then tail wind on that stretch. I usually get stung when near flowers around the turbulent transition areas. The turbulent middle region affects me on a bike. I imagine it is what puts so many bees in line with my ride. I'm a hardcore roadie. An easy ride is 20mph. I am often holding a good bit more speed than this.

My main concern is that each time I get stung now, most of the places I've been stung in the past become large welts again as well. I had 19 quarter size welts on my thighs alone last week after getting stung on the head. It was wild.