Hi: They are preparing to swarm. That means the house is to small for the number of bees so nature tell them (The Queen Bee) to select her many workers an find a new home. This want take long, probally by the time you read this they will be gone. If not try to call a local bee association or Bee Keeper and they will be more than glad to come and capture them. You can also call your local agriculter entension agent. Their only consern is to move the Queen to a new home, but they should be handled only by a experinsed bee keeper. Wish I was close unough to help Barnabus

Ideally you should get in touch with a local beekeeper but I know that may be hard to do and time is a factor. What I have done in these situations is to gather all of the comb together in an empty hive body (the standard white box without the frames inside) and then place a hive body complete with frames over it. Make sure that you get all of the combs containing brood in the bottom box. Keep some honey for yourself... It makes it all worthwhile. The bees won't leave their brood behind so they will stay in the bottom box until they build up into the top hive body at which point you would remove the bottom box and have yourself a new hive of bees.

Again I say, PLEASE don't use baits of any kind. I have a 2 year old mouser who is currently clinging to life because of secondary poisoning so anyone who says that it can't happen unless the bait is directly eaten is misinformed. Takes 2-3 days before symptoms are evident and by that time all bodily Vitamin K has been depleted so there are a host of problems all involving anticoagulant properties of the poison (ie: internal bleeding in multiple organs and brain). Only solution is big, long term doses of Vit K and prayer. I thought we had the bait far enough away to prevent direct ingestion by pets but it doesn't matter.....rats come out after eating bait and become weaker, thus easier to catch and if you have a good mouser who's just doing his/her job, then the rodents will be caught and eaten. We played the odds for about a year before this happened so believe me, it WILL eventually happen. Bring out the traps again...I've found that small pieces of Slim Jim in traps works better than peanut butter b/c it's greasy/meaty smelling and stays in place longer too. We also try to avoid creating an environment that provides both things rats look for: food and shelter. I'm finding out the truth of baits the hard way and perhaps too late so please don't follow my example. Thx, Jan in TX

Sharbear, I meant to ask Santa for another house to put up, but I forgot. I will have to try to get another one before February, when they start their nesting. This little house has been so fun to watch. Melissa, he was so easy to see. Almost at eye level for me and in full sunshine to warm up! Did not even move a muscle as I scooted around the bananas. Marion, come to think of it, my yard is usually buzzing with dragonflies (because of the pond), but I haven't really noticed one lately. Haven't seen any dead ones either. Will have to keep an eye out. It always feels good to know we have helped a creature survive. The car was a good idea. Kate, I got a new camera for Christmas, so I'm eager to start using it more and more. There is little in my yard to take a picture of right now, though! Denise, most of the banana leaves are brown and sagging. The trunk and the little bananas on the one bunch have some brown spots, but don't look awful. I wonder if the bananas will continue to develop or it I need to cut off the bunch? By the way, the native rosinweed you gave me is looking great and starting to bloom. The dwarf poinciana is about four feet tall and had a few beautiful blooms before the cold came. It should do great this year. Will take pictures sometime. The kalanchoe are still waiting for you if you ever come up this way again. Trini, I seriously need to get more houses! Gary, could the heater be too warm? I've found lizards in my hoses trying to escape the cold. Boy are they sluggish. Anna