Western Honey Bee, European Honey Bee, Honeybee

Description:

A swarm of Western Honey Bees. The bees were calm, forming a conical cluster about 12" high and 8" wide, about 7' above the ground. I was able to approach within a couple of feet of the mass without any of them getting excited about it, but I didn't press my luck.

Habitat:

This swarm landed in a small street tree in the parking lot of a small business in the village of Eagle, Idaho late in the afternoon on an October day.

Notes:

The business owner called a bee man, dressed in his bee suit with a smoker, and after gently puffing smoke on them to pacify them, reached up into the mass, cut off the branch they were on, and lowered it down his assistant who shut it into the bee box.