I might as well ask this since I got stung or bit by a bee yesterday during America day.
Last year, when taking strolls, it was rare enough for a bee to swarm around me that I could go whole strolls without it happening sometimes.
This year, they swarm around me everywhere. Everywhere. It’s like fighting your way through putty patrollers. They respawn instantly, there’s absolutely no lag. Shoo one away and one comes back five seconds later. Sometimes for three hour strolls encompassing six miles.
What the heck happened? Anyone else notice this?
When I wear a red or orange shirt and sit outside, hummingbirds tend to come check me out. I wouldn’t be too surprised if the same thing can happen with bees trying to figure out whether you’re full of delicious nectar.
As someone who likes to record nature, if that’s all it takes to get hummingbirds, I’m going to be doing that everyday now.
It helps if you already have hummingbirds in the area. But yeah, I’ve gotten a handful of hummingbirds pretty used to hanging out around me, along with a few other species (I even had a spotted towhee eating from my hand before I had to move).
Set up a feeder for them along with flowers (the trumpet-shaped types so that they can fit their weirdo tongues in there), start watching them where they can see you, and there’s a pretty good chance you’ll get them to hang out and relax even with you right there. As much as a hummingbird ever relaxes. Then they might come right up to you when you’re wearing red or bright orange.
For songbirds, a suet feeder is pretty great for drawing them close.