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Bees all over a cherry laurel

dappledshadedappledshade Posts: 1,008
in Wildlife gardening
Ive never seen bees do this before - there must be hundreds of them, all over a hedge that is at least 12 feet tall and about 20 feet wide, forming a boundary line to the garden next door.
The laurel seems very heathy, nothing on it I can see, yet the bees (about 1 in every few leaves) are scuttling about and look as if they’re feeding off something.
Are they sucking sap or something?
The sound is amazing, like sitting next to a swarm!

Posts

  • Slow-wormSlow-worm Posts: 1,576
    edited May 2022
    They might have swarmed, so if you can't have them around (pets etc) I'd find a beekeeper and get them to collect the swarm. 
    I'd love to see that though, any chance of getting a video of them? 
    They do a dance to communicate with each other, that's probably what they're doing on the leaves.
  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,295
    bees like the flowers of Laurel, plenty of pollen and nectar. If you can get a photo we. can see if they're honey bees and whether they are swarming


    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • Bee witchedBee witched Posts: 1,225
    Honey bees are also attracted to the extrafloral nectaries of Laurel, so they might be feeding.

    If it is a swarm .... which is very possible at this time of year ... they will collect together and hang around for a bit on a branch. It is at this point that scout bees will go off and try and find a suitable new home (often someone's chimneypot). If they find somewhere they like they will come back to the collected bees and do a communication dance to give details of the direction of the potential new home, and the distance to it. More scout bees will then go and check it out.
    When they have made a decision to go they will all take off at once ... a sight to behold.

    Bee x
    Gardener and beekeeper in beautiful Scottish Borders  

    A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
  • ErgatesErgates Posts: 2,402
    Interesting! I have noticed quite a lot of bees hanging around our laurel hedge, although there are no flowers. I was wondering if there was some substance exuded by the leaves. I might defer the pruning I’d planned until they move off, just in case I’m just seeing the tip of a swarm. Don’t want to annoy them.
  • dappledshadedappledshade Posts: 1,008
    Really hard to view them, but I’ll try to attach video now.
    We’re in a holiday cottage and they aren’t bothering anybody so far as I can tell.
    fascinating.
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