An inquisitive guy, I often find myself asking questions out loud like, “I wonder why it takes organic milk so much longer to sour than non-organic milk?” Every day or so, I’ll ask another question to Megan or someone around me (I have very patient friends). Well, I finally answered the organic milk mystery a few months ago, and I’ve got a wee list started of similar ponderables I plan to tackle over the next few weeks.

Today’s question: why do bees gather around the front of our car this time of year?

I’ll tackle this one in sections. First off, why this time of year? Well, late summer is the time queens leave the nest and mate (queen bees, that is). So all over Grand Forks you’ll see bees and wasps buzzing this time of year. Indeed, our favorite restaurant Rhombus Guys has a “sit on the roof at your own risk” type sign since there’s so many bees around these days — waiter Tony really enjoys killing them, though. Friends of ours who live downtown have a hole in the brick wall outside their window.  The sight is amazing: hundreds of bees buzzing in and out of the hole inches from their window.  There must be thousands in the wall. According to this article, they’re looking for mates and will seek out a wintering spot soon.

Ok, but why do bees hang near cars, and specifically, near the front of vehicles?  I’ll be honest, this is a tough one. Internet research — usually so reliable — brought up many possibilities and dead ends. I feel most confident, however, that the reason doesn’t have to do with sap or dead bugs or pollen. Instead, I’m convinced by a few who have said the reason bees gather near the front of vehicles this time of year is because they are drawn to the smell of anti-freeze.

The anti-freeze explanation convinces me, because you can walk down a parking lot with cars of various sap or pollen levels, clean cars and dirty, buggy grills and shinny ones, and bees don’t seem to consistently swarm at any one of these factors. However, they certainly are attracted to something about some of the vehicles, and I propose that something is the sweet smell of antifreeze, which comes especially from the cars that are warmer and have been driven more recently.

Do I have any inside info or significant knowledge to backup my assertion? Absolutely not. It’s a semi-educated guess, so if you want to burst my bubble and have a better idea, please let me know. Until then, however, I’ll call this one of life’s mysteries solved. Case closed, bee happy.

image by kd kelly