Possible bee hive spotted in Madison - Isthmus area

[yar...@outlook.com]

Greetings,

My good friend told me about a bee hive located on the outside of a brick apartment building near her.  I just had to have her show me. 

The hive is three stories up.  I'm pretty sure it's not a hornets nest.  When we looked at it with binoculars, we could see what looked like honey combs on the outside of the giant round hive.  There is also a hole in the middle of the hive and birds have been spotted going in and out.  Is this possible?  Do birds cohabitate with bees?  I don't know what kind of bees they are because my knowledge of bees is pretty much zilch.  Is this something the bee people want to know about?  I have a big interest in bumblebees and that's pretty limited also, although I do have a bumblebee nest in one of my bird houses (one I moved from a different location). 

Thanks for listening.  If this discovery is important to bee people let me know.  In fact, it may be a hive that you are already aware of.   It's on Sommers Street, located on the front of the Mansion.    Keep in mind that I'm a newbie and I couldn't positively identify the flying insects, which I assumed were bees, flying all around the hive.  It was pretty hard to tell with binoculars.

Best to you all.

Jean