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I was at a farm yesterday, and they(people not the farm) said they had a swarm for me. Upon a closer look it was a small hole, about the size of a dime, in a 10x10 post. About every 30 seconds or longer, a small bee would enter or exit this hole. I did see three seperate bees at one time, so its not the same bee. This post was a support beam and there many years. Its in the middle of the "open" farmers market area of the structure. The beam is solid from all inspection, and the cavity could not be anywhere near what a honeybee would seek out.
The bees looked like any other honey bee, but flew a little faster. The were also a little smaller but not much. The underside of the bee however was brilliant yellow. And it was not yellow pollen from rubbing flowers.
Anyone have an answer?
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It would be interesting to see what's inside that post. If there is honey comb you'd know. They don't sound like solitary bees of any kind. Maybe they are honey bees? Maybe they are some other kind of pollenator.
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Those are hornets! Kill'em quick! I charge for that service, be careful, they are visicious (sp, gave up).
They are also likely to be in the ground, compost piles, rotted tree stumps, etc.
Very fast, bright yellow and black. I get a lot of those calls in the late summer and fall.
If you get a chance to inspect the colony it is like a paper wasp nest. They will layer it up in tiers. I dug one up that was bigger than a basketball. Intrigueing.
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Hornets don't look like honeybees, nor do any of the wasps that I know of.
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I would guess they are Yellow Jackets. They look a lot like you describe. They are MEAN!
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I called them hornets, look at thses pictures, they are yellow jackets.
http://www.insectstings.co.uk/fingerpics.htm
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that is one brave finger 
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I took a look at the pictures (Thanks), but none of those looked like what I was discribing. (except the honeybee itself). Next time I'm up at the state Ag. office I'll look through the books and "pinned" examples they have.
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I dont know what they are called but There are some living in the soffit of my shed and look just as you described. Ive always called them yellowjackets but they are nothing like that photo of a yellowjacket. More fuzzy like a honey bee but bright yellow. I can say (they hurt real bad when they get ya.)
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I agree that picture makes them look too long, it should be just a little smaller than a honeybee.
I killed a colony of them for a lady who was stung over twenty five times. They were in a compost pile and she was trying to pull an old hog wire fence out of it when they came after her. They chased her into the house, down the hall, into the bathroom, and into the shower where she still had six of them with her. Odd thing is that she never went to the hospital or got sick, she did get mad and wanted those SOB's (sorry Barry, that is what she said) dead.
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I've got something that sounds extremely similar: Something's boring a hole in the frame of an antique stained glass window that's hanging on my front porch. It's a perfect 1/4" circle and I can hear them in there working and can watch the sawdust falling out onto the porch floor! That's how I first discovered they were there--the telltale sawdust. I have never seen them, though. I've even knocked on the frame thinking they would come out and investigate. Instead they just go quiet. I'd love to know what it is.
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Tia, what you have sounds like carpenter bees. You will want to try and get them out of there, thay can cause a bit of damage. Its also posable that its carpenter bees in the post. There was a site posted earlyer with info on carpenter bees, or you can run a google search. Perhaps thats whats in the original posts post as well. Give it a shot and see.
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Michael, I thought of carpenter bees, and we do have carpenter bees in the area--especially around my garden shed--but the hole looks too small for those big, fat bodies! Like I said, it's only about 1/4" in diameter. Guess I'll have to investigate to find out who's in there. I hate to hurt/kill anything (except mosquitos, deer flies and palmetto bugs), so I don't want to just plug the hole.
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Why don't you find a drill bit that fits the hole, drill several holes in a piece of wood and hang it there instead? See if they will lay in it instead of destroying your window?
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Michael, neat idea. I'll give it a try.
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You may end up with a board full of leafcutter bees or the like.
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It's worth a shot--anyway, I like trying new "adventures."
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