Often they do migrate, break off new hives.

Are you sure that they are bees?

If they are then the neighbor will most likely be happy to come get this new hive and bring them home, they are a valuable commodity.

I would first check with the neighbor who has the hives, and id the type of bees first. https://www.virginiabeekeepers.org/

https://www.facebook.com/notes/pa-state-beekeepers-association/i-think-i-found-a-swarm-now-what-do-i-do/1420577468001525/

I know my wife is the bees knees.

I believe once the hive reaches a certain state of population, a new queen is born who takes a number of the workers with her to form a new hive - if I remember my bee science well enough!

I saw these question on Nextdoor when bees suddenly move to a new location. Call a local beekeeper to safely relocate your bees. Please be patient and gentle. 

The best thing to do from our standpoint is to move the bees.  There are people who specialize in doing that.  I am not sure that they may have migrated from the existing beehive next door. When a  new colony is started there is a whole process of queen selection...A bee expert in your area should be able to help.  A

The only thing I know about bees is to avoid them!

First, try to establish if they are honeybees or wasps by looking at web sites that show both.  In general, wasps are bright yellow and black while honeybees are golden, tan, or even grey with black stripes.  Wasps will sting you, and you should call an exterminater.  Honeybees are gentle, so you would have nothing to fear from them coming and going outside the building.

You would need an experienced beekeeper to take away the  bees and the honeycomb they've created (so it doen't attract insects or rodents).  Check the Cook DuPage Beekeeper's Association's Swarm Remover web page.  You input your zipcode, and the beekeeper that does swarm removal in your area will show. 

You probably should first talk to the beekeeper next door.  They will help you ID whether the insects you are seeing are bees or wasps.   If they are bees, the neighbor may be of help--or try the Swarm Removers. 

Our pollinators are endangered and need all the help they can get.  Be kind to them.  Wasps, on the other hand (while they do eat mosquitos and some do a bit of pollination) are not good neighbors.

And as for why would some of the bees from an existing hive migrate (or 'swarm')?  That is how bee colonies reproduce.  If they grow strongly, the queen will take off with a large portion of the bees, leaving behind a daughter queen to take over what's left and build the hive back up.  Since honeybees only sting to protect their hive, if the swarm has not built comb and started a true hive, they will be very gentle until that point, as they have nothing to defend.  Most people have seen swarms on a tree, sometimes a car, or other odd place---those honeybees are gentle enough to just scrape into a cardboard box with a gloved hand and take them away!

Susan Haughton can tell you about bees!

The other one is too large (colony wise). Just had a situation where they will not come & exterminate them at all. They are protected & you need to get a bee keeper that will remove 'the group'.

Sounds like bees swarmed, possibly from next door.  They swarm when the conditions in their hive become untenable for them (typically too many bees, so they want to make a fresh start).

Definitely contact a state or local beekeepers association and they'll have someone who will come remove the hive -- unless the neighbors want to try and recover what may be some of their bees.  

We keep "bait" hives on our property so if bees swarm, we have a shot at capturing them.  This is nothing more than a hive box with a cottonball with a drop or two of lemongrass essential oil on it...a beekeeper should be able to help.   

They taste just like chicken

?Bees are a regular discovery in SD...we have a guy for that.

Bee hives are everywhere in our area as well so I'm very familiar

I personally only know how to remove the hives not why they exist where they do

I know next to nothing about bees but learned a bit when a "nest" was found in a closet in a property a client was purchasing many years ago.   It was professionally removed.  No additional issues as far as I ever heard.   

Enough to stay well clear of them!

I know quite a few beekeepers, as our area has quite a few enthusiasts. Our town is also home to Glory Bee, which supplies beekeepers all over the nation. I understand the very, very basics of beekeeping. 

Corinne Guest, Managing Broker - something that I am learning from some answers here...

Liz and Bill Spear (Bill) raises bees - it depends if they are a protected insect and how they have to be removed in each state, I would think.

We found bats today in an inspection and they will have to be removed by a specialist; I'm fairly certain bees are protected as well.

I have a listing that has then behind the siding. There are hundreds in the hive and professional exterminators are coming tomorrow to remove. My seller got stung under the eye. Be careful. Regular wasp, hornet sprays will not kill these bumblers. 

I know nothing about bees except stay clear of them....

A beekeeper may get them, in exchange for any honey.

Well I had a friend that had them in the attic and the bee removed had 800 lbs of honey from them.

I know about Aunt Bee from Mayberry.

I would be an unhappy camper if my neighbor had a beehive box in his yard, unless we lived on large multi-acre lots.

They swarmed.  Bees outgrew the hive and half split to form a new colony.  Happens annually.

I was going to say that they have secret lives.  good book.

Corinee that happens here once in awhile. We have 'bee guys' that come out and get rid of it. Pretty simple really.

May or may not be (pun) part of the original hive. The Queen can lay male and female eggs for just such a purpose of starting another hive. Bee-ing?

I do not know about bees but I love their honey.

This is interesting, and have not run into this, so reading and learning.

I'm not a bee expert, I would consult an exterminator.

I had a bee hive under my shed.  My folks had one in their attic and a house my investors purchased has one as well.  Cost $500 to capture them and relocate them.  Cost $75 to kill them.  Guess which option I'm choosing next time!

The buggers were brought in to pollinate fruit trees two cities away and decided to go to our houses instead.

Bees will go where they can get entry to make a hive.  That is what I recently learned when I had to get a company to remove one from the eve of a roof.

Bees often swarm if they are overcrowded in their current hive. They will either split, or if there is a problem they will gorge themselves on honey and take the queen elsewhere and start over. Any beekeeper in the area will come and get the bees for you. To buy a new hive of bees (generally 3 pounds worth) is ~$140-$160. Beekeepers love freebees!

I think bees stick to one spot because they are linked to the queen. So this is probably a separate hive.

It's possible.  Time to ask an expert on bees.

If they are bees, i am sure the neighbor would be happy to come get them back. If not i may break out the spray

What i know is Call an expert.

Yellow jacket, hornet, wild bees.

Ask the neighbor if he is mssing some bees.  They may or may not be theirs.

They sting and make honey. Sounds like a new queen went off to establish a new hive. Better living quarters?

I have found that I do not want to piss them off and I'm sorry that is a real estate term

Not much, but I do know that in my area if you have an infestation you need to hire a specialist to rid the house of them and no kill them.