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Offline KeyLargoBees

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Expect the unexpected
« on: June 18, 2016, 12:56:32 am »
 Checking my swarm traps today and I came across a little gift... A beautiful open air colony .... not sure I want to do anything with it I may leave it there and let it grow and see how things turn out .
https://youtu.be/3bRbTshonpA
Jeff Wingate

Changes in Latitudes...Changes in Attitudes....are Florida Keys bees more laid back than the rest of the country...only time will tell!!!
piratehatapiary@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/piratehatapiary

Offline bwallace23350

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Re: Expect the unexpected
« Reply #1 on: June 18, 2016, 09:22:38 am »
What is an open air colony?

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Expect the unexpected
« Reply #2 on: June 18, 2016, 09:27:03 am »
Most of the time bees build their hive in a void. Open air hives are just that, they hang from a tree branch or under a cover of some sort. In warmer climates they can survive.
Jim
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
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Offline bwallace23350

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Re: Expect the unexpected
« Reply #3 on: June 18, 2016, 09:28:20 am »
Cool.

Offline KeyLargoBees

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Re: Expect the unexpected
« Reply #4 on: June 19, 2016, 05:12:04 pm »
so today I get a call for removal and you guessed it....another open air colony .....whats teh chance of stumbling on 2 in one week ;-) Its under the second story overhang.....this is an old cyprus board 1965 home right on Florida bay with a gorgeous view...I guess if you are a bee and can choose to live in a wall or have great sunsets you choose the view over security?

In any event I will post pics when I do the job...its an absolutely beautiful home...I may forgo my removal fee for visitation rights...the homeowner is only here 2 months out of the year ;-)
Jeff Wingate

Changes in Latitudes...Changes in Attitudes....are Florida Keys bees more laid back than the rest of the country...only time will tell!!!
piratehatapiary@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/piratehatapiary

Offline tjc1

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Re: Expect the unexpected
« Reply #5 on: June 19, 2016, 11:12:50 pm »
Man, Jeff - what it with you and the bees?! You must be a bee whisperer... they just come running to you and your traps!

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Expect the unexpected
« Reply #6 on: June 20, 2016, 10:56:16 pm »
Jeff,
I just got home from our Jax bee meeting. Our speaker was Rob Horsbough, our local bee inspector, and his topic was AHB. He is studying AHB and has access to the few hives that are authorized in the state of FL. A few of the points were:
Open air hives are mainly AHB or have a lot of AHB genetics.
Bees in the ground and in small voids  are mainly AHB or have a lot of AHB genetics.
AHB swarms and small hives are calm and get more aggressive as they grow.
I asked him if there were African Honey Bees in the Keys and he said there are.
He showed a video where he put a toy electric dancing dog on a tray in front of a EHB hive and then he did the same thing on a AHB hive. Neither one reacted to the dancing dog. He then tapped on the entrance of each hive with his hive tool. Very little reaction on the EHB hive but the AHB boiled out oh the hive and filled the air with bees and stung the hell out of the toy dog.
Bee careful Jeff.
Jim
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline tjc1

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Re: Expect the unexpected
« Reply #7 on: June 20, 2016, 11:14:04 pm »
THAT is scary. I'm glad I'm way up north here...!

Offline KeyLargoBees

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Re: Expect the unexpected
« Reply #8 on: June 21, 2016, 12:37:22 am »
Jim... It's the standard government agency response I have heard it before..... They have to give that answer and always do in lectures. I know some other keepers here in the keys and extreme south Florida and yes there are hives that are more aggressive than others but there are no reports of insane aggressiveness that anyone has reported that I am aware of and that sort of stuff makes the news and word spreads.

Those three hives that went crazy on me same day last weekend all exhibited the "boil out" trait as soon as I cracked the lid and smoke didn't seem to help,,,, had me horribly worried because they were so atypical of what I had seen and all came from the center of my trap line.... But a week later they are calm as kittens still small but I will watch them... I am not about to go getting genetic testing on any and all swarms... Just monitor aggressiveness and if it gets marginally unacceptable her majesty goes for a dip in the alcohol... I have three in there. 2 were drone layers and one was marginally aggressive ... She got the pinch.

I respect all the guys on YouTube who work unveiled but I would never do that... Stings don't bother me like they used to but face and head stings hurt... And it's easy to be cautious and suit up. Hell the few times I have worked in shorts or open toed shoes early on  I regretted it...I am careful and will continue to be...as far as open air and water meter bees yes I have heard they are more prone to have AHB characteristics and I always glove up and tape cuffs on a removal until they prove me wrong and then I start peeling off the layers... This time of year it's a race between the girls proving they are nice and me dying of heat stroke ;~)
Jeff Wingate

Changes in Latitudes...Changes in Attitudes....are Florida Keys bees more laid back than the rest of the country...only time will tell!!!
piratehatapiary@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/piratehatapiary

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Expect the unexpected
« Reply #9 on: June 21, 2016, 12:45:02 am »
Jeff,
One thing Rob did mention was that the AHB here in FL are a lot less aggressive than the ones in South America and the ones in the western part of our country.
They think that ther reason is that FL has so many managed EHBs  that we have deluded their genetics and tamed them down a bit.
Jim
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline GSF

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Re: Expect the unexpected
« Reply #10 on: June 21, 2016, 08:20:23 am »
Jim, Did the toy dog make it? (lol)

This guy keeps AHB in his apiaries (Honduras). Pretty interesting reading considering all the stuff we've heard about them up here;

http://musingsonbeekeeping.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html
When the law no longer protects you from the corrupt, but protects the corrupt from you - then you know your nation is doomed.

Offline KeyLargoBees

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Re: Expect the unexpected
« Reply #11 on: June 21, 2016, 08:37:35 am »
I had heard the dilution thing too.....all I can do is take normal precautions....and have that alcohol bath ready for her majesty if her daughters misbehave. My understanding from speaking with state etymologists is the genetics dilution expands outwards from points of entry and dilute more  as you get further away from the entry point. With Port Everglades, Port of Miami and Port of Tampa being the three main entry points and % of AHB traits lessening as you get further away from the ports. In my conversations with our inspector (Caitlin) we had had no confirmed cases of AHB here in the Keys and only a few unconfirmed cases of extremely aggressive colonies that were destroyed before they could be tested....so not sure where Rob got his info on the cases or if he was referring to the "suspected" cases.

In any event I am careful and will continue to be ;-)
Jeff Wingate

Changes in Latitudes...Changes in Attitudes....are Florida Keys bees more laid back than the rest of the country...only time will tell!!!
piratehatapiary@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/piratehatapiary

Offline Nugget Shooter

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Re: Expect the unexpected
« Reply #12 on: June 21, 2016, 11:11:07 am »
Just to add it is not near as bad (AHB) here in the Southwest as the media would lead folks to believe and they sure can add the drama although there have indeed been some fatal bee attacks in the Phoenix area over the recent years sadly human as well as pets. I am near Wickenburg AZ at about 2000 feet elevation and as yet the bee keepers here are not reporting much of a problem. Down South on the other hand in the Tucson area folks are having more verified issues for sure and bee keepers are also having to adapt.
Learning to manage without meddling...

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Expect the unexpected
« Reply #13 on: June 21, 2016, 12:42:23 pm »
Just to add it is not near as bad (AHB) here in the Southwest as the media would lead folks to believe and they sure can add the drama although there have indeed been some fatal bee attacks in the Phoenix area over the recent years sadly human as well as pets. I am near Wickenburg AZ at about 2000 feet elevation and as yet the bee keepers here are not reporting much of a problem. Down South on the other hand in the Tucson area folks are having more verified issues for sure and bee keepers are also having to adapt.
Thanks for that info.
The news media cannot sell their publications unless they have a life and death story.
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline KeyLargoBees

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Re: Expect the unexpected
« Reply #14 on: June 21, 2016, 06:08:13 pm »
And some guy can run over an EHB hive and get 500 stings and the headline will read "Africanized bees attack landscape worker" on the front page and then when the report comes back 3 weeks later that they were not in fact Africanized they will bury that story on page 8 in small print.

Love the Media...
Jeff Wingate

Changes in Latitudes...Changes in Attitudes....are Florida Keys bees more laid back than the rest of the country...only time will tell!!!
piratehatapiary@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/piratehatapiary

Offline Nugget Shooter

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Re: Expect the unexpected
« Reply #15 on: June 21, 2016, 08:48:07 pm »
Exactly, gotta have drama, excitement, danger, etc. to make news regardless whether true or no. Seems "based on truth" over rides factual reporting these days. Heck here in the dry desert the news folk search for puddles after each summer rain to report it rained waiting with baited breath for an actual gully washer and some destruction. Sad sad sad..... Folks out here are scared to death of bees now and are not educated enough about bees to understand their value to the environment.
Learning to manage without meddling...