Pine Tree - Lots of Bees

[Benton2569]

I cut down a pine tree this morning that was about 25 feet from my hives. After the tree fell I noticed lots of honey bees flying around the top branch of the tree. Upon coser inspection there were maybe 200+ bees flying and clustering on a top branch. I had a few swarms a month back and thought that maybe one had taken up residence in this tree but the number of bees seemed too small to be a swarm. The stem they were on looked wet. Perhaps they were gathering resin or something?

I was on my way to a cookout so did not have time to do anything more than observe for a little while. Any idea what was going on?

[Benton2569]

Since we are expecting a few days of rain I went back down to the brush pile with flashlight in hand. There was still a small clump of bees on that branch. The clump was smaller than your fist - can't be more than 100 bees. I cut them off and added them to a 5 frame nuc box. I was also able to look at that branch and noticed that they had started to draw comb on it.

In the process I must have swet out every beer and hotdog I consumed at the cook out. Man, there is never a dull moment keeping bees!

[tecumseh]

sounds like an after swarm that may have at one time contained a virgin...