Harmless little bees?

[adavisus]

Something to avoid whenever the weather is hot

A real cold wet dawn is a bit safer to tackle wasp nest demolition

 

[addy1]

I guess they weren't because it appears Africanized are about the same size and color as normal honey bees and these ones were small and black,

The small dark ones could have been russian, they tend to be darker.
Africanized are still down in the warm south. I wouldn't think they would be up in Canada.
When we work the hives the guard bees do get a bit testy and also time of year makes a big difference. Is nectar flowing, are they low of food etc.

Sounds like you might be developing an allergy.

Wasps really hurt, so far never had trouble breathing etc. But the pain............whoa

Honey bees, if stung, I smear Unkers on the sting, pain gone instantly, no swelling, all it does is itch a bit the next day.

 

[Mmathis]

@Mucky_Waters Did you or your buddy/co-worker ever find out why the heck those bees were only after his hat? I wonder if there was some chemical/pheromone involved -- maybe he had interesting smelling sweat. My husband, son, and I were working in the back yard a couple of years ago [doing a pond upgrade], and there was some kind of bee or wasp [was long enough ago that I don't recall anything about the insect.] that kept buzzing around one of us -- I think it was my husband. It was never aggressive, but it was a comical set-up. We finally decided that it was attracted to the particular color he was wearing. Who knows....

 

[addy1]

When hubby and I work the hives, he has maybe two bees around his head I have a cloud!

I wash with his soap no makeup no perfume, no body lotion. They just like me.

 

[peter hillman]

I remember when I was young bee stings were part of life. Now to even see a bee is something to write on the calendar. Same with butterfly's around here.

 

[addy1]

We always got stung walking barefoot in the clover. Rare to see bees now. So sad.

 

[Mucky_Waters]

@Mucky_Waters Did you or your buddy/co-worker ever find out why the heck those bees were only after his hat? I wonder if there was some chemical/pheromone involved -- maybe he had interesting smelling sweat. My husband, son, and I were working in the back yard a couple of years ago [doing a pond upgrade], and there was some kind of bee or wasp [was long enough ago that I don't recall anything about the insect.] that kept buzzing around one of us -- I think it was my husband. It was never aggressive, but it was a comical set-up. We finally decided that it was attracted to the particular color he was wearing. Who knows....

No idea why they were initially just after his hat, no doubt there was some pheromone or color involved, but what I found more puzzling was their persistence if following us all the way to the other side of the house (it was a big house) and waiting us out while we sat inside the vehicle. I've dealt with lots of angry bee family stinging insects, but none of them ever perused me more then a few yards from their nest. In this case we weren't even anywhere near their nest to begin with.
The next day (and several times after that) we returned to work on the same side of the house and saw no sign of them so I'm pretty sure the incident had something to do with the woman disturbing her hives that day. Still, not the kind of honey bees I would want to keep.