Odd Insect Behavior

It's spring time in the south so that means quickly changing weather from nice to cold to hot and humid, and back again to cold.  We have also had sunny, unusual windy days, rain, and tornadoes all of which have occurred in the course of one month.

Yesterday, I witnessed the oddest behavior from some bees.  As I was leaving the parking lot at work a swarm of bees came from out of nowhere and flew off.  It was the strangest thing.  The bees were huddled together in thin air communicating with each other the way bees only do.  I backed my truck out of the parking space, glanced out the side window, and that's when I noticed them.  I could only stare at wonder and curiosity.  I had never seen anything like it before.  At first I wasn't really sure what I was looking at.  I questioned if it were bees or something else.  This all happened in a matter of seconds.  Then they lifted higher and proceeded to fly away together.  After finally coming out of my dazed state, I drove forward and noticed some of my coworkers in the same state I was just in.  I quickly rolled down my window to ask if they saw what I did.  They did, and we left as fast as we could.

I was still thinking about those bees when I arrived home.  Something just didn't seem right, and I couldn't figure it out.  I now think those bees were a warning sign of what was about to happen that evening. 

That evening the weather began to change.  It had been cloudy, warm, and humid all day.  The rain began and turned into quite a thunderstorm.  Now, this type weather is not at all unusual around here in the south so I went about my normal evening activities.  As I listened to the storm outside I could tell it was getting worse.  An aunt called as I was finishing dinner to ask if I had seen the news.  I told her no and asked why.  She suggested that I turn on the news because it looked like a tornado was about to touch down in my area. 

Naturally, I started panicking and when I turned on the TV I discovered just how bad the storm really was.  There were tornadoes touching down all around my area.  Luckily, the tornado my aunt had called to warn me about was not coming toward my house, but I did call a friend because it was around her area.  She and her family were waiting out the storm in their closet.

In the meanwhile, I continued to listen to the weather forcast while checking my facebook at the same time.  And, facebook was buzzing with activity during the storm.  Funny how one can find out what's happening and how everyone's doing just by checking facebook.  I sometimes think I get the important news firsthand from my friends instead of the TV.

After a few hours everything outside started calming down, and my family and friends were safe.  That was one crazy night, and I have learned to never question odd insect behavior again.  So, if you ever happen to see a swarm of bees doing unusual activity, be aware and take caution because something is up.