Jag,
I know exactly what you're talking about, but I also don't know what they are. They're not yellow jackets, unless they're some sort of miniature sub-species. I saw them first time about two years ago at the shooting range I belong to. Until just a few days ago, I had not seen them anywhere else. Last Sunday, I loaded the tractor on the trailer to take out to the wife's farm and just as I hit the front of the trailer, they were swarming all around. Shut down the tractor and jumped. I didn't know if they were nesting in the trailer or under the hood of the tractor. As it turned out, they were all over the back yard. I have a pear tree and there are several pears on the ground. These bees were "eating" on the pears. No flowers left, so I guess they were getting the "nectar" from the meat of the pears. I'm in extreme Southeast Kansas, so probably not far from you. About four years ago, there was some sort of mite that killed off almost all of the honey bees. This last summer, I saw the first few real honey bees I've seen since then, but still in very limited numbers. I've had some people refer to the new "little" bees as "wild honey bees". Makes me wander if they aren't something that has proliferated after the demise of the regular honey bees. Whatever they are, their sting is
nasty. We were sitting around the picnic tables out at the range when one landed on my leg without me noticing. I laid my arm on my leg and the little bugger stung me on my wrist. Within 30 minutes, my wrist and hand were swollen up so bad I could hardly move them. I've also had a couple of them get down the back of my shirt and get me. Whatever they are, they are much more aggressive than the typical honey bee. These things don't appear to be afraid of humans at all and will continually buzz around you, crawl in your hair, land on you, etc. Not the type of behavior you see in a honey bee. Also, from what I've seen, they nest in the ground. One of the guys was raking the picnic area at the range and when he uncovered a hole in the ground, a whole herd of 'em came swarming out of the hole. I'll check the yard today and see if they're still around and, if I can stomp one, I'll post a picture of the rotten little buggers so you all can see what we're talking about.
Hoss
