Everything You Need to Know about Bees in Gilbert
Bees are amazing. They bring us luscious and beautiful flowers, tasty local honey as well as vegetables and fruits, and keep many aspects of nature running as it should be. In Arizona, it is at exactly this time of the year when flowers are at their full bloom, somewhere between February and April, depending on the weather, when bees make their full appearance known.
There are 2 main types of bees: non-social bees and social bees. Let’s break down what you can expect to see this bee season and how to react when you do see some bees.
Non-Social Bees in Arizona
Non-social bees are less aggressive and consequently have less aggressive stings, that is if they even sting you. It takes a lot of aggravating to get a non-social bee to actually sting you. And lucky for us more than 90 percent of all bee species are non-social.
Social Bees in Arizona
Social bees, like honey bees, are more likely to sting if they feel threatened. Social bees will sting if they feel you are too close to their hive or their colony. Just as a mother bear would attack to protect her cubs, a honey bee will sting if it feels threatened or if it feels its colony is being threatened. When a social bee does sting, pheromones are released which cause other social bees to sting as well if they happen to be in the area.
According to the University of Arizona, all wild honey bees in Arizona are presumed to be Africanized and you should take caution around them. No, this isn’t said to scare you, but it is wise to not aggravate any bees in any way.
Here in Gilbert Arizona, bee swarms can be common at this time of the year, but they don’t have to be scary or dangerous. If you’ve been to our Magic Pest Facebook page you’ve no doubt seen multiple images of rather large beehives in homes or local businesses that we’ve recently had to take care of.
If you do see a swarm, or hear a bee swarm, it is imperative that you know what to do to protect yourself, your pets and your family.
Number one, do not panic.
The worst thing that you can do is panic when you see an approaching swarm. This is the most difficult gut reaction to overcome, especially if you are allergic to bee stings, but panic can cause you to make rash decisions. Whatever you do, remain calm.
Never, under any circumstances, try to remove a bee colony yourself.
Call one of our Gilbert bee experts here at Magic Pest to take care of the situation for you. We can’t stress this enough.
