What's wrong with the honey bees in my tree? They are acting strange.?

Question

I noticed the bees in my tree are acting strange. I'm not sure what type of tree it is, its tall with bunches of small sweet-smelling yellow flowers, but it also has these weird blue-green patches of fungus on the trunk. After they drink the necter they start flying into walls, lying on their backs and roll around, or they'll sit still and not move even when about to be stepped on. Did the fungus make the necter ferment or is it something else?

Answer 1

Sounds like you have it right.

The bees sound like they are drunk, or poisoned.
Yeast is what one thing that can make fruit ferment and some fungus can reproduce with yeast spores. The spores could have gotten to the fruit and started fermentation.

According to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungus
"Fungi (singular fungus) are a kingdom of eukaryotic organisms. The fungi are heterotrophic organisms characterized by a chitinous cell wall, and in the majority of species, filamentous growth as multicellular hyphae forming a mycelium; some fungal species also grow as single cells. Sexual and asexual reproduction is via spores, often produced on specialized structures or in fruiting bodies. Yeasts, molds, and mushrooms are examples of fungi. The discipline of biology devoted to the study of fungi is known as mycology."

This is also the most likely fashion that lead to mankind’s discovery of alcohol.

Answer 2

Could be the sickness that is affecting bees. It disorients them in some manner that is not well understood. Perhaps you should notify your local wildlife management service, or a local universities zoology department. An apiologist.

Answer 3

Certain types of honey bees, display extreme laziness when theyre interested in mating. You should notice them enjoying eachother soon enough, but for now, some chemical in their structure makes them prone to act sluggishly.