Bees Swarming Japanese Maple: They’re After Aphid Honeydew

Small tree: Spray foliage with Orthene .
Large tree: Soil drench Bayer Advanced Tree & Shrub Insect Control .

Cause

Bees/flies on a healthy-looking Japanese maple = aphids or scale insects feeding and excreting sugar-rich honeydew. Bees harvest it.

Insects die → honeydew stops → bees leave. Tree health unaffected.

Trees: Japanese Maple Honeydew and Sooty Mold: Aphid or Scale Infestation; Orange Fungus at Base of Japanese Maple: Mulch Decay, Not Tree Disease; Japanese Maple Sunscald: Identification, Prevention, and Borer Risk; Japanese Maple Early Color Change: Drought Stress or Root Suffocation?; Japanese Maple Lost All Leaves After Planting: Shock or Deer?; 'Inaba Shidare' Japanese Maple: Identification and Container Growing Guide; Japanese Maple Freeze Damage: Spring and Fall Fertilizing; Yellow Fungus on Japanese Maple Branches: Likely Wood Rot, Not Surface Fungus; Japanese Maple Tree Diseases: Identification and Treatment; Selling or Transplanting a Large Japanese Maple: What's It Worth?

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