Okay, so I have a call into my local bee keeping organization. I posted the thread to the 60 minutes thing about the honeybee collapse. My husband and I just saw this, there is part 2 which pops up on Youtube. This is horrifying... The bee that stung me got caught under my shirt. I did not feel they were aggressive. I bumped the railroad tie that I think contains the nest. They came out but the one that stung me was trapped under my shirt. A bee expert will be able to tell me if they are Africanized? I was only stung once and I saw the stinger so I thought it was a honey bee. Are African bees in the Northwest? I am going to go to the doctor to get the Epi-Pen...AND I had a reaction to the sting. I did not get the stinger our right away and it caused a large area of my torso to swell and itch...but this Youtube video seems to suggest if I have repeat stings I will not get a reaction. I am not personally afraid of bees but I do not want to create a neighbor liablity issue by refusing to move the bees. I would prefer not to kill them. I love the bumble bees. I have never been stung by one. Here is a link that might be useful: Honeybee Collapse...and getting stung.

No - pesticide residue remains, bees will avoid it but they'll still pick it up best I can recommend is research "Peaceful Valley" and others that sell lacewings, praying mantis and ladybugs... for fungus, mildew and those things I wash the plants and trees well with water from a hose then use straight baking soda start identifying single issues and finding the organic treatment for that one thing dishsoap - is especially effective sprayed directly on bad bugs

Thank you! I spent some time reading up on solitary bees which I never knew existed. It's a bit daunting to think they will emerge next year in greater numbers, probably in the same garden bed they have selected this year. I see many bees all around the property where we have fruit trees and lots of flowering plants. There's no sign of a colony or hive, so perhaps they are all solitary. Who knew? Cheryl

Son has made some decisions. He likes the Midnight Magic Crape Myrtle and is thinking about using them for the left side of the house, in the sunshine. Any thoughts? He also wants to plant some purple asters on the left side of the house, facing the driveway. I think you could classify it as part sun, because even though it gets no direct sunlight, it isn't what I consider in the shade, with shadows from the house. The sun passes over the left end of the house, tracking down the driveway toward the backyard. It's about a 25 foot long bed, only about 2' deep and has three boxwoods set about 8 feet apart (you know, it's kinda like the first homeowner liked boxwoods but could only afford half of what he needed). There are two short, newish azaleas there but they're not growing well in that location and we're going to transplant them to the right side of the house, in the shade. This summer, he planted a wildflower mix in the bed in front of the shrubs. It was not in my plan, but it is an accomplished fact. We are going to dig them up at the end of the season, but I worry that it will be hard to get rid of all of the traces of them. Will they insistently grow back? Your advice has been very valuable, I hope you'll give me some input on this. Thanks.