I say leave them alone, they are extremely beneficial!
Thanks so much
liquidsquid. Some great info. They are quite amazing, and like you the bee-keeper that stopped by said they do an enormous amount of good. We will probably leave them "bee".....they are in a somewhat isolated part of the property, but the tree trunk nest is on one of the ATV trails....so I was concerned about the noise stirring them into a frenzy. The bee-keeper told me one of the reasons they get stirred up from noise is the queen sends out signals and if noise from a tractor or mower interferes with them being able to get the queen's signal they go into a frenzy.
If you think walking by or buzzing by the tree with ATV's is safe...then we may leave them alone....but sometimes I've got some precious cargo like the two rascals shown below with me and I just didnt want to take any chances.
