I have found nests of leaf cutter bees in my containers.

Billy on the Florida Space Coast

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Pat...now that you mention it...for two summers now I've noticed yellow
jackets in nearly the same numbers , maybe a few more , all around my trees
as well !!!...I always just assumed they were after the water runoff from
drainage holes ? Never any damage of any kind . Hmmm a mystery thats all
across the country ? interesting..BobO

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Bees huh? We used to get some sort of bee that would actually tunnel into
the ground in our geraniums. Never had any of them swarm my bonsai though.
Although I did find a black widow under the shelf I kept my bonsai on.
--I crucified my hate and
held the world within my hands--
Neal Ross-Marysville CA


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I have bees, in significant numbers (but not swarming),
invading my trees.
They gather in small numbers (I've seen as many as six
together) on the soil of
many of the trees...some in bonsai containers, some in nursery
containers and
other training containers.


snip

Any ideas?

Sure. Water. You live in the desert. You also water your trees
daily. The bees have discovered that and they're "sipping" water
from the soil in your bonsai pots. Don't worry. They don't
drink much.

This is standard bee behavior during a drought -- and in Arizona
that's what you have most of the time. They are, by the way, too
busy to sting you.

As a little kid growing up in the Mojave desert back during the
war (WWII), I used to play with toy soldiers in freshly-made mud
puddles near the house, and I always shared my puddles with a
score or more of bees. I don't recall ever getting stung --
except once when I sat on one, and that was self defense (and it
may have been a mud dauber wasp, anyway).

If you haven't seen this before, it means that you have a new
neighbor somewhere -- a new queen has set up housekeeping in your
neighborhood.

Give them a dish of WET mud somewhere off to the side and they
should leave your bonsai alone (or most will -- there may bee an
artist or two among them ;-). And keep the mud wet. ;-)

Your flowers will be happy this summer.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Our life is
frittered away by detail . . . . Simplify! Simplify. -- Henry
David Thoreau - Walden

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G'day All...

Thank you for the responses...Billy, Bob, Neal, Jim...

By the way Jim, you said "...You live in the desert. You also water your trees
daily..."

Your right, the desert...even here at 4500'. Right at the upper edge of the
Arizona High Desert.

But..."...water...daily..." Not needed yet... even with the temps a little
higher (2-5F) than normal...it was 2-1/2 days from the last watering. Also,
the bees are nothing new, just some of their activity...and, I observed the
bees activity before watering the plants they were visiting.

Anyway, the bees are not bothering me, and I hope that they enjoy the water.

Have a good day.

Pat
Dez of the Arizona High Dezert, at 4550', Oracle, AZ,
2000' above Tucson Sunset Zone 10 USDA Zone 8
aka: Pat Patterson 'riding off in all directions'