The Eyes of the Swarm

Friday morning a friend of mine posted on Facebook that there was a swarm of bees in his front yard.  Aside from glassed in hives at nature centers and state fairs I've never seen a  swarm of honey bees at large in nature before, you know I just had to get a closer look.

Powerful and intimidating as a group; invisibly directed, it's so mesemerizing to watch the hive mind in action.   When I first arrived they were dripping from the branch of a bush and then began to congregate on the ground around the base of an empty planter.  We watched for a long time trying to spot the queen in the bush or on the ground and yes, I got stung once, but it was totally worth it just to watch these guys up close.