Got attacked by a swarm of bees today!

[HOG2K]

I had one come and sit on my hand today whilst using my Nikon DSLR on a tripod. Bees - best friends with our gardens!

I've had that happen to me a few times when using my tripod and shooting birds. Have never been stung from any bee yet when I was out with my DSLR.

 

[Zee_Bass]

WOW!! Wife and I are sitting here in bed watching the news when I read this, she said it must be matting season lol. Heck of a way to go... did you get some good video of them attacking it?

Here is the first video where I noticed it.

Pretty crazy!

 

[HOG2K]

Here is the first video where I noticed it.

Pretty crazy!

Thanks for the video, I didn't think bees would be flying so high up.

Do you know what caused all the spikes in the video toward the end?

Thanks

 

[radman]

African honeybees will certainly attack quadcopters, but ordinary honeybees will too. I live in Washington state where the winters are too cold for Africanized honeybees to survive. My Mavic Pro, Spark and Hubsan drones have all been attacked by worker bees (not the male drones) collecting nectar from clover in my yard. You can put your drone in sport mode and outrun them, but they often caught up with the drone during landing. The ultimate solution was to use weed killer and eliminate the clover in my yard.

 

[dougiefresh27]

I was playing around with RTH accuracy just a bit ago while my daughter swam and I realized the MA2 had a swarm of bees around it! Has anyone experienced this before?

I did not expect to see what I did once my drone landed.

Here are a few pics. After reviewing the SD card you can clearly see them swarming it. I didn't know what to do but land asap.

They were probably in love seeing it as the Mother Ship

 

[Lionfish]

Yeah I wish I knew how I attracted them or if I somehow flew near a nest when gaining altitude out of my neighborhood. I'm paranoid now when flying because I don't want to have to clean that mess up again!
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QUOT
I imagine that someone in your neighbourhood has a hive or two , and you inadvertently got too close at one stage and they reacted to the big noisier Mavic drone .
By the look of your pictures , you got off pretty lightly .
The more , the thicker the goop , the easier it comes off , it doesn’t get a chance to dry and harden .
Summer bug windshield juice works .

 

[Earthman]

I've used boric acid in the past for ants and it was highly effective.

Also, see the picture I posted or the dead bees from my driveway. Confirmed honey bees.

Yes, they look like honey bees to me too. I wonder if you flew into a “swarm;” i.e., a mass migration while they were looking for a new nesting location. Generally, a swarm of honey bees isn’t aggressive as long as you don’t disturb it and appear to be after the queen. Africanized bees may be another story.

Boric acid works on insects that groom themselves - they injest it while grooming. If nesting insects with a queen, they also take the boric acid to the queen and she injests it too as a means of figuring out what it is, which kills her. Once the queen is dead, the hive dies since the rest of the insects don’t have direction from a queen, which is why it doesn’t take much boric acid to kill a whole nest.

This is way off topic even if some bees are “drones.” Sorry.

 

[Brojon]

They were probably yellow jackets. They swarm and attack if agitated for any reason.

As a beekeeper I can tell you two things that "trigger" bees.
1 - droning sounds (like props, lawnmowers - that sort of thing) It sounds like other bees that may have come to rob the hive.
2 - Dark hair, clothing or even an article of clothing. Most predators that feed on bees are dark colored. Anything dark puts you on their bee radar.
It's why bee suits are white. My hair is white and I can get away with working teh hive in white shorts and a tshirt. Bees are very cool - try to not kill them.

 

[BanditsRoost]

I was playing around with RTH accuracy just a bit ago while my daughter swam and I realized the MA2 had a swarm of bees around it! Has anyone experienced this before?

I did not expect to see what I did once my drone landed.

Here are a few pics. After reviewing the SD card you can clearly see them swarming it. I didn't know what to do but land asap.

It has happened to me several times using my MP. They never bother any of my Phantom series. It is always bumble bees that go after mine. Quick vertical accent and a >50' horizontal change of direction seems to lose them. Always happens in NC spring and early summer.

I was playing around with RTH accuracy just a bit ago while my daughter swam and I realized the MA2 had a swarm of bees around it! Has anyone experienced this before?

I did not expect to see what I did once my drone landed.

Here are a few pics. After reviewing the SD card you can clearly see them swarming it. I didn't know what to do but land asap.

 

[Eagle Jr]

Sad because honey bees are in danger of extinction, and their role in ecology is actually massive. However, they must have perceived your Air2 as a threat. Wasps on the other hand, start your motors!!!!

Honey bees are not in danger of extinction. They are an important insect and should be protected but they are not an endangered species.

 

[tanner707]

I was playing around with RTH accuracy just a bit ago while my daughter swam and I realized the MA2 had a swarm of bees around it! Has anyone experienced this before?

I did not expect to see what I did once my drone landed.

Here are a few pics. After reviewing the SD card you can clearly see them swarming it. I didn't know what to do but land asap.

I live in the North Bay Area and in the Spring and Summer wasps and bees seem to be attracted to the sound of my friends Mavic Pro's blades. You can see the bees flying around it. I think the rotor noise hits a frequency they feel they need to love or defend against.