W. Allen Dick writes:
> On Fri, 24 Mar 1995, Adrian Wenner wrote:
>
> >    Honey bee swarms almost always travel rather near the ground and are
> > easily seen as they move through an area.
> >
>
> This reminds us of an episode one year when bees were chasing swallows in
> our yard.
>
> The swallows were up about 30 feet and the bees chased them up there
> constantly.  Since they were nesting and raising young, they had a
> horrible time coming and going from the nest, and were always running
> from bees.
 
I guess that the bees are chasing off a predator.   Swallows  will  take
bees for food.  I understand that they can identify drones in flight and
will 'pick them off' rather that the ones with the sharp backside.  It's
quite possible that the swallows picked their nest site *because* of the
convenient location of the local supermarket :-) Maybe they should  have
been a little further away.
 
Regards,
--
Gordon Scott    [log in to unmask]         100332,3310 on CompuServe
Newsletter      [log in to unmask]      ditto
                Beekeeper, Kendo Sandan, sometime sailor.
                Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG22 5HP, UK