You could give Nick Cage a call.
Walk around your house while the bees are active and make sure you don’t see any bees going in and out of tiny (or larger) holes in your house. If you do see such a thing, get the hole(s) plugged up, and quick.
If that’s not happening, I don’t think you need to do anything.
Way cool.
I think the “scout bees” (cool job) will look for abandoned hives as a way-station as the old Queen made a new one and I’ve no clue how they decide to divide the colony up yet they do and the scout bees do the “waggle dance” to tell those who are going where to go.
They may stay there yet think like a scout bee and look around the outside structure of your house to see if there’s any inviting places to set up the new hive.
If they stay or if they go, bees are the cool.
Oh, crap - I missed that!
Yes, it looks like they are building a hive right there.
Time to get a bee guy. Should be easy for him, since it’s out in the open.
Yeah…it has some pretty cool structure on the other side. I hadn’t had a chance to look at that angle before.
Oh wow, that looks like honey bees nesting out in the open. It happens, but it’s rare.
Definitely call a beekeeper when you get home. They will be happy to remove it. Or keep it in you want to watch the bees.
A beekeeper would come an either put the whole hive in a box or shake the bees into one - leaving an entry point for bees that are out and about. They will stay wherever the queen bee is. At night they settle in and beekeeper closes and takes the box to their new home.
If I were removing them, I’d separate each comb, check it for the queen, stabilize it (cutting if necessary) in a frame with wire or rubber bands, and place it in a super. Then bring it home.
Swarms are easier. Just scoop them into a box or use a bee vacuum.
That is indeed cool. I’ve seen a swarm, and I’ve seen lots of beekeepers’ hives, and I’ve had them build inside the walls of the house; but I’ve never seen honeybees build in the open like that. I didn’t even know that they could. TIL. Thanks!
This morning, there is a much larger view of the hive from the original angle. I took this picture around 8am in South Florida, and it was about 48 degrees. Is it significant that I can’t see nearly as many bees? Are they off foraging already? Did they all freeze? Do they have a cozy little back patio with a heater and a fire pit that I can’t see?
I leave for my cruise around noon, but I’ll try to check on it again before I go. Not sure if/when I’ll get a chance to post an update though.
The hive can be relocated by a professional to a place that is safe for both man and bee, so to speak. That is the solution that I would implement.
I have a line on two that likely would relocate it if needed and I decide to go down that path.
A friend recommended one that was also on a list linked above, and there’s a guy - Willie the Bee Man - who advertises on my local NPR station.
Ooh, one other thing I just realized is that this oak tree overhangs my mango tree, which is currently in bloom. Hopefully this means I’ll a good mango crop this year. The squirrels tend to eat them before they are ripe enough for me, but I tend to get a handful anyway. And I’m happy that more wildlife is taken care of, since I live in the middle of the city.
They certainly didn’t freeze at 48F. They may well have been less active because it was relatively chilly outside the hive. [ETA: for that reason, native bees may be better pollinators for some early-blooming crops, because they’re actively seeking out flowers in temperatures in which honeybees are likely to stay in or near the hive.]
Honeybees survive the winter (if the hive is healthy) inside the hive in areas where temperatures get down to well below 0F. They move together inside the hive and heat it with wing activity – not precisely a fire pit, but serving the purpose. Again, that’s what the honey’s for – to feed and fuel them through the winter when they can’t forage outside the hive.
Said professional will probably capture them into a commercial hive. Whether this is safer for the bees than leaving them where they are probably depends on how that hive will then be dealt with. Some beekeepers schlep their bees all around the country to pollinate different crops at different seasons; they have AIUI considerably higher bee death rates than do beekeepers who keep their hives in basically one location, within a small area.
I appreciate your humane concerns for the creatures’ welfare but, remember, it is on your property. You could be sued if, by some unfortunate occurrence, their defenses are triggered and one or more people severely injured.
You could be sued if somebody trips and falls down in your back yard, too. If @Digital_is_the_new_Analog thinks there’s a significant risk from this particular nest, then yes they should get it removed – I have no idea who hangs around in or travels through their yard, or whether the nest area is blocking some route of easiest or only access to something that they need to access. But attempting to make the entire planet safe for all humans in the hope that then nobody will get sued is an enterprise that would do huge amounts of overall damage and would be doomed in any case.
Piling on. You can be sued for anything. No matter how silly. But being successfully sued is another matter. Being sued successfully because a natural hive on your property was not removed is not gonna happen.
I’m baaaack! Had a great time on my cruise.
I took a look around 11am yesterday, and the bees were still there, flying around the nest. I see no indication that they are also going into the house at all, so they seem somewhat stable in their current location.
The mango tree is in full bloom. I expect this is making the bees and the mango happy. I remember this time last year, the oak tree started shedding pollen too - it was a mess on my brand new pool cage. I suspect the bees will enjoy that too.
After that, though, I’ll consider have them moved. They are in a fairly safe location, but the risks are still there. My house backs up to a little lake, and I’m on a cul-de-sac, so there is no reason for anyone other than my guests to be in the yard there. It’s fenced in, too. But the landscapers go there. The door to the pool cage is right under the nest. And my best friend keeps talking about getting a new puppy, and we’d like the little one to be able to play out there a bit.
At least now that my vacations are over, I have time to deal with it.
I’ll try to get updated pics up later today or tomorrow. It’s very foggy right now, and I have this work thing that I have to get back to.
Dude! (or Dudette!) Work will still be there tomorrow. We need pictures NOW! 
Busy little bees… They seem to have been out foraging still when I took these shots. The hive is much more populated in the morning when I look from the shower.
They are doing really well. (And so will your fruiting crops.) Seems kind of a shame to move them.