Thanks for your question. However, I am a bit puzzled by it. Bees are necessary for pollination of apple blossoms. Without bees performing this task, there would be no apples. However your question implied that the insects you saw were affecting apple fruit. This is not something that bees would do. If you were seeing insects as apples were forming, it is doubtful that they were bees. Here are some sites regarding insect pests of apple trees including ones that directly attack the fruit (pay particular attention to apple maggots and codling moths):

https://extension.usu.edu/pests/research/backyard-apple-pests

https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/apple-crabapple-insects/

https://extension.usu.edu/pests/ipm/notes_ag/fruit-list-apple

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/fruits/apples/pests-affecting-apples.htm

Until and unless we can identify the actual insect that you observed on your trees, it is very difficult to propose effective remedial actions.

Please look over the sites that I provided and give things some thought. Get back to us with your impressions. We can then take things from there.

Thanks for consulting us.

I am not talking about honey bees, although these insects sting, and several people also referred to them as bees. Ok, I looked at your links, did some research. They are not bees, although some people call them that. They are wasps. I am enclosing some images of the black and yellow striped wasps. They could be one of these varieties. They do extensive damage, actually eating the apple with a swarm of possibly over a thousand attacking a tree. The first two images look most like the insects here. Of course apple maggots and codling moths are also a problem.

thanks

Larry

Thanks for the response and clarification.  Things make more sense now. I suspect that you had been visited by yellow jackets. There are two more pieces of information that I need:

1). Before the yellow jackets arrived, did the apple fruit look normal and healthy?

2).  When you said that they "ruined the apples", could you please be more specific.  What exactly happened to the apples?  Lose color? Get deformed? Develop rotting areas?  etc.

Here's where I'm going with this.  Did the yellow jackets cause the damage to the apples, or were the apples first damaged and this is what attracted the yellow jackets?  I'm inclined toward this second possibility.  Your thoughts?  Many thanks.

Thank you for your patience in awaiting an answer to your question. Based upon the clarification that you provided, I now havw a pretty good idea as to how you could proceed. The following are my thoughts:

1). These are yellow jackets and not bees.

2). All the yellow jackets you observed last year (2023) are now dead. They did not survive the winter. If you have yellow jackets in 2024, it will be because whatever attracted them in 2023 still exists.

3). If your apples in 2023 were not edible, it was NOT a direct consequence of the yellow jackets. Yellow jackets are attracted to apples because of their high sugar content. This high sugar can be produced in over-ripe apples and/or in diseased apples. Either or both these two conditions existed in 2023 before the yellow jackets arrived on the scene. If you observed holes in the apples, these usually were first made by birds.  Juice oozing from these holes then attracted yellow jackets.

4). For 2024 to prevent a recurrence of the 2023 situation, be sure that no apples remain on the ground to rot and attract yellow jackets. Likewise, ripe apples on the tree should be harvested in a timely manner. Carefully monitor the ripening apples on your tree in 2024 to detect any early stages of rotting due to insect pests or fungal diseases. Any affected apples should be immediately removed. If your apples show signs of disease or have an unusual appearance, remedial action should be taken. However at this time (late April 2024) it is too early to make any diagnosis as to what might have affected your 2023 apples. If you observe anything unusual about your apples in 2024, please take some pictures of them and send to us ASAP. We would then be able to suggest effective remedial actions.

See the following for further information on these and related points:

https://treeservicemedfordoregon.com/4-ways-to-keep-yellow-jackets-out-of-your-fruit-trees/ - :~:text=The yellow jackets are spending,water in order to survive.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/fruits/fegen/wasps-in-fruit-trees.htm

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/fruits/fegen/wasps-in-fruit-trees.htm - :~:text=Since the wasps are attracted,still hanging from the limbs.

Good luck and please be careful of these critters. They are not friendly. Thanks for consulting with us.