About mid-morning, the Queen (May She Live Forever) looked out the kitchen window and saw this:

Keep in mind that the pinecone in the picture is roughly 6 4" long.

Bees can be a serious concern here in Southeast Texas, because of this. (Basically, it is a good idea to leave all bee handling to the experts.)

UPDATE: As of 2:30pm, they are gone. (Well, actually there are a few bees still buzzing around the branch they were attached to. My guess is they can still smell the queen there and will stay there looking for her until they die. It is so sad that so often women have that very effect on men.)