I am in Jacksonville Florida, I have a extremely large staghorn (common) and I recently moved to a new house 5 mths now. Its been hung in the back yard and I noticed there are what looks like ground bees in the middle, I want to remove them naturally with no harn to them or my stag, any ideas or help would be appreciated...

ladybeebum. You would do best to call a beekeeper. If you want I can find out if my beekeeper friend here can recommend one.

What exactly is a "ground-bee"?

There are several types of bee that nest in the ground, Ken. I'm guessing that's what she means.

Anna, the bees probably won't harm the plant at all, since stags are pretty solid in the middle and couldn't accommodate a large colony anyway. Ground nesting bees tend to be non-aggressive too, so I think I'd be inclined to just observe them for a while before taking action.

It's also possible that something as simple as dousing the plant with the hose a few times will discourage them if you really want them gone. I'm a big proponent of trying the simplest thing first . .. Bees tend to nest in dry areas, I think.

I am familiar with two here, the bubble bee and the carpenter bee. I have never had bees bother any of my large staghorns, but when they are outside for the spring/summer, ants will sometimes take up residence in them. They are just the "sugar-ants" but when I bring them back in in the fall, I have to sprinkle a bit of Orthene over the basal frond area to rid it/them of those ants.

Bees are busy swarming at this time of year, so they will look for new places to build a hive. PLEASE whatever you do, do not destroy them. I watched someone do that here the other day and it makes me sick. I asked the guy if he didn't like to eat food??? Bees are important for life on this planet!
OK off soapbox now.

I'm going to try the water thing as I don't want to harm the bees either, thank you all for all the info. I don't want to harm the bees as I know they have a job to do also, I will try the water. I just want them to move along as I have grandchildren in the yard occasionally. thanks again I will post the results. And yes I do believe they are a type of ground bee but maybe a honeybee either way they will not be harmed.

It will be very easy to just submerge the staghorn in a basin of water and keep it submerged for an hour or so. Whatever insect it there, won't be there long. They can't survive under water.

Mm, remember we're trying not to kill the bees!

Just want to make them think their nest location is too wet. Hence, dousing with the hose simulates a very heavy rain, but will not drown the bees.

When I submerge a plant, the insects will simply float to the surface. They don't take too kindly to drowning. You would want to do this outside IF there are bees there. That way they would simply fly away (I guess ).

Unfortunately that will not be possible, as it is so large I would say at least 3 feet wide and then so big it takes 2-3 people to life it to hang from a limb. I try to co-exist with them or the hose but it would take a awful large container to emmerse it in. but thanks for the idea..

No, unless you had a crane and a swimming pool, that won't be possible. Try the hose-drench method.