Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: BeeMaster2 on February 27, 2019, 08:12:37 am
-
I received a call on Sunday that bees were moving into a house. I was on the road at the time heading home so I told him it would take a while but I would be there that afternoon. As I was loading up my truck he called and said that all of the bee activity stopped. I knew a bad storm was heading his way because I had just driven through it. I told him it was probably scouts checking out his house and they really liked it. He wanted me to come any way and would pay for the visit. I told him we needed to seal up the 2 areas the bees were going in. Some were trying to go into connected brick columns in the front and some were going into the brick chimney in the back. He sent me these 2 pictures.
I went there and sure enough the bees were not there. We agreed that I would setup swarm traps. As sooner were they set, the scouts started coming back. It was still very cloudy and getting late so I was not expecting a swarm that night. We agreed that I should seal up the 2 areas real tight and he agreed to the additional price. I worked until sun set and sealed up both places. He only had part of the money so I told him I could get the rest when I came back. On Monday he called and sent me a picture of bees bearding on the Nuc. I went there that evening and picked them up. Bare in mind he and his wise are deathly afraid of bees. He told me he didn?t have the rest of the money so we agreed I would get it when I picked up the second trap.
The next morning I received the following message.
I was talking to my wife last night and we felt that because you were able to get a colony that we could maybe waive the other 40. I felt I didn?t communicate effectively that we didn?t have more than the 60 I gave you originally and I was only prepared for the initial cost you told me over the phone. Also, if you want the other hive to stay I feel it?s only fair that we get payment for use of the land in potential of attracting more bees. Something to think about. I know you all will get product from them so I think the initial price we discussed would be more than fine. Thank you.
I still haven?t answered him. I?m still pretty T-ed.
Jim
-
Crooks, crooks, and more crooks. I know this wouldn't be ethical, but for fun thinking, What if you were to go back, un-seal the first two holes, add a drop or two of leamon grass at each entrance (as a deterrent), :wink: Open the catch box, woops make an effort as to trip, flip it upside down and then give it a good shake, hollering, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE! Say so long, Mr Crook!
Now, I wouldn't do this and I'm not suggesting it but wouldn't that be funny!! :grin:
-
Ben is close, but wrong. Go and pick up your box so it doesn't get destroyed. Tell him he agreed to the price beforehand. Since he thinks the bees are so valuable, you will unseal the openings and release the queen into one of them.The other bees will follow her and he can reap all the profits from the colony.
I have done this a few times and always received my money. PRONTO
-
Ben is close, but wrong. Go and pick up your box so it doesn't get destroyed. Tell him he agreed to the price beforehand. Since he thinks the bees are so valuable, you will unseal the openings and release the queen into one of them.The other bees will follow her and he can reap all the profits from the colony.
I have done this a few times and always received my money. PRONTO
Ha haa, yes, releasing the queen into the opening will be a sure thing. I was hypothetically, jokingly. relying on her to go there voluntarily following the scent of the leamongrass oil. (After the accident of the dropped box), Your right iddee if we are to do it, do it right !! :wink: It is sad that there are crooks like this. We can deal with 20 good folks and one crook can put a bad tast in the mouth and attempt to ruin our wonderful day. Be of good cheer Jim. We know who is our keeper. It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come.
-
Jim, sorry you have to deal with such people. You were honest, you proposed solution at agreed price. You carry out your end of the agreement and now the fella holds back money with irrationally as justification.
I am sorry you have to deal with this sort of thing, Jim. I would be Xxxxx off too. It is the principle: agreement, conduct work according and then get in the back. Yes Sir, I would be xxx.
Jim, Let us know what you decide.
Blessings
-
BF, the difference is, you said do it. I said threaten and get your money, but keep the bees.
-
Jim, that's really sad. People like that don't go far in this life - life has a way of dealing with them.
Congrats on the swarm though. :grin:
Alan
-
I would take all the bees and shake them out in front of their door and leave...
-
Thanks for the feedback. I will probably compose an answer tonight and send it.
Jim
-
Thanks for the feedback. I will probably compose an answer tonight and send it.
Jim
Don't take me literally Jim, I was kidding as an effort to cheer you up. :happy:
-
Nah. When something like this happens, I take my time responding. I wait until I cool down. Then I responded in a nice but direct way.
Jim
-
I would take all the bees and shake them out in front of their door and leave...
That is a good one, Mr. Bush, short and sweet justice. You forgot one thing though......ring the doorbell.
-
I would take all the bees and shake them out in front of their door and leave...
That is a good one, Mr. Bush, short and sweet justice. You forgot one thing though......ring the doorbell.
:cheesy:
-
Here is my reply.
I don?t know why you think that you should not pay me as agreed before I started sealing up the bee areas. If I had not done that, you would probably end up having bees in your brick work. Removing bees from brick is expensive . After the Beek removes the bees and all of the comb, you would then have to hire a bricklayer to restore the bricks. Total costs would exceed $1000.
As far as charging for having the swarm trap on your property, the reason for that is to catch the next swarm in the trap instead of them moving into your house.
I will pick up the trap.
There are not a lot of beeks around here that will do bee removals from brick. If he ever calls me for a removal, it will be expensive and payment will be up front.
Jim
-
I have pick up the second swarm trap tomorrow.
Jim
-
Sorry Jim, the more and more I do cutouts and hives and cost to travel to get them it adds up. I was trying to get gas money for swarms, but have been getting volunteer Hours for some others, I do love mr bush?s Answer.
-
That was very good Jim. You handled it in a gentlemanly way. Well done.
-
I received a text from him this evening. He said he will pay the $40 when we pick up the second swarm trap.
Jim
-
I received a text from him this evening. He said he will pay the $40 when we pick up the second swarm trap.
Jim
You handled it right Jim.
-
:happy:
Thanks.
-
I would take all the bees and shake them out in front of their door and leave...
My thoughts exactly
-
I thought about that but would be wasting a perfectly good hive. 😞
Judy and I are going to move these bees into a full size hive this morning. They have been bearding every day.
Jim
-
I was at work yesterday and left back if my truck open and pulled a nuc out and had scout bees around it so I left it in a spot and baited it so will see what happens fingers crossed
-
I'm not sure I would answer. I'd just go get my bees and call it good. Lesson learned. Those types of people are usually not worth combat. They would surely try to get back at you either in court or in person.
I have run up against a few of them. Usually, it's a crying woman wondering why I am not enough of a sister to do her a favor. You can guess my unsaid response :wink:
-
Kathy - I see things the same. I learned a long time ago ... Don't wrestle with the Pigs, you'll just get dirty and they'll Love you for it"
Jim - I'm glad it worked out for you. You handled it very well!
Alan
-
I was at work yesterday and left back if my truck open and pulled a nuc out and had scout bees around it so I left it in a spot and baited it so will see what happens fingers crossed
Wishing you good catching! I plan to put out a few myself. This will be my first opportunity with the proper equipment to give it a try. Has to be fun walking up to a box full of new bees! How many swarm traps are you planing on using?
-
I was at work yesterday and left back if my truck open and pulled a nuc out and had scout bees around it so I left it in a spot and baited it so will see what happens fingers crossed
Wishing you good catching! I plan to put out a few myself. This will be my first opportunity with the proper equipment to give it a try. Has to be fun walking up to a box full of new bees! How many swarm traps are you planing on using?
I did 3 last year got 0. But got 10 from calls 5 stayed will see what happens
-
I was at work yesterday and left back if my truck open and pulled a nuc out and had scout bees around it so I left it in a spot and baited it so will see what happens fingers crossed
Wishing you good catching! I plan to put out a few myself. This will be my first opportunity with the proper equipment to give it a try. Has to be fun walking up to a box full of new bees! How many swarm traps are you planing on using?
They can bee really exciting, especially when a large swarm is moving in and you get to see the whole thing happen. Even more exciting is when they build 2 boxes full of wax in 10 days.
I will probably have a dozen or so traps.
Jim
-
You have swarms moving in on your porch or was it your barn. Don?t even have to put them out
-
You have swarms moving in on your porch or was it your barn. Don?t even have to put them out
Before we moved to the farm, I would set the trap using the stack of empty supers just outside my workshop door. I caught a lot of very large swarms in those supers.
Jim
-
We inspected the swarm trap today. No where near as many bees as I was expecting. There was only 3 frames of bees. We could not find the queen nor were there any eggs. That is really surprising considering I had a queen excluder on the entrance. She may have found another way out and was on her mating flight. That also does not make sense. This should be a primary swarm and she should be mated.
Darn bees just don?t read the rule books.
I will re-inspect them in a couple of days. If there is still no sign of a queen we will probably add a frame of brood.
Jim
-
We inspected the swarm trap today. No where near as many bees as I was expecting. There was only 3 frames of bees. We could not find the queen nor were there any eggs. That is really surprising considering I had a queen excluder on the entrance. She may have found another way out and was on her mating flight. That also does not make sense. This should be a primary swarm and she should be mated.
Darn bees just don?t read the rule books.
I will re-inspect them in a couple of days. If there is still no sign of a queen we will probably add a frame of brood.
Jim
Jim a question, queen or not, a frame of capped brood would really boost them being there is only three frames of bees? And maybe a frame with freshly laid eggs for the purpose of queen cells? Is this right?
-
Ben,
I will either add a frame or add these bees to another hive here at the farm. I have already removed 5 frames of brood from my strongest hive of the hives here to build up 2 other hives.
Jim
-
Ben,
I will either add a frame or add these bees to another hive here at the farm. I have already removed 5 frames of brood from my strongest hive of the hives here to build up 2 other hives.
Jim
Under reasonable circumstances, that would have been right, (adding the capped brood and frame with new eggs), in your situation? Your bees along with yourself, have been busy! Beautiful day here today.in North Mississippi but, Sunday night dips back to 20F and for at least 3 days. I'm concerned about the situation being my bees have really been busy also and this is a critical time of year when bees have been hard at it and the weather dips this cold for a few days, they need much protein along with nectar in order to feed brood. If they are unable to forage, during this time, and are lacking in food, I have been told they will resort to cannibalism of the brood, greatly reversing the progress which has been made. I've done what I can to help them be prepared. It must be nice there in Florida!!
-
Tuesday and Wednesday we are supposed to have lows of 35 and 32. That does not seem to bother the bees. I had 2 weak hives (2 frames of bees) that made it through January and still were building up with Lowe?s as low as 32. I really hope we do not get a waxed frost. My grass in my pastures is just starting to grow. I really do not want it to be set back and have to start over again.
Jim
-
I moved this comment and started a new topic. Deep Freeze Coming.
-
I just picked up my second swarm. It was 20 feet up on a couple of thin branches.
Here is a picture of them going in the swarm box.
Jim
-
I just picked up my second swarm. It was 20 feet up on a couple of thin branches.
Here is a picture of them going in the swarm box.
Jim
Looks like a good one too! Congratulations! Jim I have never caught a swarm. Last spring I went to fire houses, police stations, 911 center ETC. But never got a swarm call. However, I did get cut out calls and was happy to get them!
-
Jim, I am glad for you, two swarms already by first week of March, my envy. My bees mostly clustered, yes, still clustered, high 43F today. Hopefully by Saturday, normal temps return and soon, very soon my bees will be buzzing bringing in pollen and nectar: 2019 unusual cold, it happens now and then.
-
I just picked up my second swarm. It was 20 feet up on a couple of thin branches.
Here is a picture of them going in the swarm box.
Jim
Congrats
-
[/quote]
Looks like a good one too! Congratulations! Jim I have never caught a swarm. Last spring I went to fire houses, police stations, 911 center ETC. But never got a swarm call. However, I did get cut out calls and was happy to get them!
[/quote]
I did that also( as I work for fire rescue) in last 19 years had 0(only been keeping for 4) have gotten a bunch from water department
-
Looks like a good one too! Congratulations! Jim I have never caught a swarm. Last spring I went to fire houses, police stations, 911 center ETC. But never got a swarm call. However, I did get cut out calls and was happy to get them!
[/quote]
I did that also( as I work for fire rescue) in last 19 years had 0(only been keeping for 4) have gotten a bunch from water department
[/quote]
Thanks for the tip! I didn't think of water departments..
Phillip
-
That looks like a good one Jim. Congratulations and keep up the great work!
-
I just picked up my second swarm. It was 20 feet up on a couple of thin branches.
Here is a picture of them going in the swarm box.
Jim
Looks like a good one too! Congratulations! Jim I have never caught a swarm. Last spring I went to fire houses, police stations, 911 center ETC. But never got a swarm call. However, I did get cut out calls and was happy to get them!
Ben,
I put an add on Craig?s List (for one month) yesterday, received my first call this morning.
Jim
-
Jim that is another option that I did not consider. Thanks to you and jtcmedic for the good tips!
-
I was at work yesterday and left back if my truck open and pulled a nuc out and had scout bees around it so I left it in a spot and baited it so will see what happens fingers crossed
swarm traps in back of truck do give you hints on where to place traps. I usually have a few in the back of truck to replace traps that have caught or if I find a good location to place one. Any activity around truck and I find somewhere nearby to set my trap.
-
I was at work yesterday and left back if my truck open and pulled a nuc out and had scout bees around it so I left it in a spot and baited it so will see what happens fingers crossed
swarm traps in back of truck do give you hints on where to place traps. I usually have a few in the back of truck to replace traps that have caught or if I find a good location to place one. Any activity around truck and I find somewhere nearby to set my trap.
ed/La. Good common sense thinking. I like it. Thanks for posting. Please let us know how this one works out along with your other progress. "I left it in a spot and baited it so will see what happens"
Phillip
-
I received a swarm call yesterday morning for a swarm 20 feet up on an apartment building in Jacksonxille. Went right over and used a bee vac, a ladder and 8 feet of PVC one inch pipe to get them.
Owner was gone when I left so I left my card.
Here are 2 pictures:
I then, with Bobsims help, worked on my hives that are in town. We were finished at 5:00 when I received a call from the same person saying the bees were back. Here are the pictures she sent:
We ran right over but when we got there the main second swarm had left.
It would have been really neat to catch two swarms from the exact same spot in one day.
Jim
-
"It would have been really neat to catch two swarms from the exact same spot in one day"
Yes it would have been nice to catch the two. You almost did! The second looked a little smaller than the first, I would have been happy to have either!! Probably a good chance the second swarm could still smell the pheromones of the first and lit in the same spot? The idea with the pvc was a good one. Have you used this method before? Looks like swarm season is in full bloom in your area Jim. Congratulations on the new bees!
Phillip
-
Thanks.
Not only have I used the PVC method, I was using the same piece of PVC. I know that because last year Judy and I were collecting a swarm that was split in two. One was on the ground that we knew about and the other was 12 feet above it hanging from an I beam. The owner provided the piece of pipe. It had a small kink in it and he said to take it if we could use it.you can see the kink in the picture.
Jim
-
I like it. I wonder if a swarm was even higher, could you use the type of schedule 40 PVC that has a MOLDED in coupling on one end, allowing even more extention? I dont know the proper description for this type pipe but the local hardware store sells it in 20' sections for about 6-7 dollars per link. 1". I know because I had to have some just a short time ago. We could cut the 20' pieces down to 10-12' keeping the coupled side on two, three, or even four pieces, if the situation called for it?
-
It is better to use schedule 20 instead of 40. It is lighter and easier to handle holding it up at an angle. I would suspect 15 feet is close to max to handle without bouncing it around and hurting the bees.
I would not add connectors but the pipes with the deep built in connection would probably work.
Jim
-
It is better to use schedule 20 instead of 40. It is lighter and easier to handle holding it up at an angle. I would suspect 15 feet is close to max to handle without bouncing it around and hurting the bees.
I would not add connectors but the pipes with the deep built in connection would probably work.
Jim
That makes scenes. Thanks Jim,
Philllip
-
Received a call about the below swarm. It is not very large but a nice swarm. The limb they are on is about 2 1/2 inches in diameter.
It was too large and stiff to get a good shake so I bumped it real hard with the swarm box. That worked pretty well.
I put five fully drawn frames in the box. It should anchor them better than empty frames.
Jim
-
Well Jim has taken the lead on the swarms.well done
-
Well Jim has taken the lead on the swarms.well done
Yep, good job Jim!
-
😄
Thanks JT and Phillip.
Jim
-
On Wednesday, BobSim and I were working together getting the bees back here for BeeFest and we received a call to remove bees from a dryer vent. On our way there we received a call for a swarm hanging at about 5 feet above the ground in a tree.
I held a Nuc under the branch and Bob shook it. He shook it so hard that they slammed into the box real hard. 3 bees immediately came out and stung me, one on my left eye lid, and one in each nostril. It was rough. Here are some pictures.
Jim
-
I noticed that you were sure to mention Bob Sim by first and last name !! 😊😁😁😁 that Bob!! No doubt who this rascal is!! Dang Bob !! 😁😁. Those are some sensitive places! I would be happy with the bees but you paid a painful price!
-
Phillip,
BobSim is the name he goes by here on BeeMaster. For those that were here at BeeFest last year, we went to his house and did splits on his top bar hives.
As we arrived at his house there was a swarm of drones moving into one of his hives. There were so many drones that at first it looked like usurpation but then we saw that it was almost all drones. He said it happened again this spring. He has a drone congratulations area near his house.
Jim
-
This is again, something I haven't heard. BobSim is lucky to be living so close to a drone congratulation area, if, he is a fellow interested in making splits and producing queens. And you are blessed to have a friend like BobSim to work bees together. Here I go with another question. With so many drones stopping by one hive, will that size (army) of drones, be to much for one hive to sustain as far as resources go? Will this many drones be overly taxing to (re-fuel) that many drones by one hive even if the drones only stop at this hive once, let alone if they were to continue to re-visit the same hive for resources. This may explain why some folks complain about a certain hive "just will not produce much honey no matter what?" Just a last minute theory.
-
I was at work yesterday and left back if my truck open and pulled a nuc out and had scout bees around it so I left it in a spot and baited it so will see what happens fingers crossed
swarm traps in back of truck do give you hints on where to place traps. I usually have a few in the back of truck to replace traps that have caught or if I find a good location to place one. Any activity around truck and I find somewhere nearby to set my trap.
jtcmedic, ed/La. have y'all had any luck so far related to the above?
-
I was at work yesterday and left back if my truck open and pulled a nuc out and had scout bees around it so I left it in a spot and baited it so will see what happens fingers crossed
swarm traps in back of truck do give you hints on where to place traps. I usually have a few in the back of truck to replace traps that have caught or if I find a good location to place one. Any activity around truck and I find somewhere nearby to set my trap.
jtcmedic, ed/La. have y'all had any luck so far related to the above?
They haven?t moved in yet
-
This is again, something I haven't heard. BobSim is lucky to be living so close to a drone congratulation area, if, he is a fellow interested in making splits and producing queens. And you are blessed to have a friend like BobSim to work bees together. Here I go with another question. With so many drones stopping by one hive, will that size (army) of drones, be to much for one hive to sustain as far as resources go? Will this many drones be overly taxing to (re-fuel) that many drones by one hive even if the drones only stop at this hive once, let alone if they were to continue to re-visit the same hive for resources. This may explain why some folks complain about a certain hive "just will not produce much honey no matter what?" Just a last minute theory.
With the number of drones that we saw go into one hive, I think you are right about putting a heavy load on one hive.
The truth is this hive survived this but they probably could have made more honey if it did not happen.
Jim
-
Here are pictures of a swarm I got this week. It started out as a perfect swarm hanging on the bottom of a planter that was just hooked onto the tree at five feet from the ground.
I placed a bed sheet on the ground, placed a five frame Nuc with all drawn comb under it. I picked them up, held them 6 inches over the Nuc and gave them a shake. They all landed directly on top of the Nuc and then went air borne as a swarm and flew two fenced yards away. We chased after them and got permission from the owner to go in and get them. They landed real low on a small magnolia tree trunk.
I found the queen walking towards the box and put her in a queen cage and put her in the nuc.
For a while there I thought I was going to loose this swarm but it worked out.
The next time I get a swarm like this I will first hold the swarm directly over the box and touch the bottom bees to the frame tops and let them decide to go in the box. Then I would shake them onto the box.
Jim Altmiller
-
Here is a picture of the queen.
Jim Altmiller
-
Here is a picture of the queen.
Jim Altmiller
Awesome Jim, As Schawee would say " I got the queen" 😁
-
:grin:
-
I received a call for this swarm in Jacksonxille while at the farm. I called Judy, she has in town, Five minutes away. I asked her to get a spray bottle of sugar water and lightly spray them to stop the scouts from dancing and making them move to a new location. By the time I arrived an hour later she had the swarm in a ice chest and they were all gathering into it. She held the branch above the swarm and a neighbor helped and cut it off and she lowered it into the box. Of course her bee suit was in my truck so she didn?t have any protection.
Jim Altmiller
-
I received a call for this swarm in Jacksonxille while at the farm. I called Judy, she has in town, Five minutes away. I asked her to get a spray bottle of sugar water and lightly spray them to stop the scouts from dancing and making them move to a new location. By the time I arrived an hour later she had the swarm in a ice chest and they were all gathering into it. She held the branch above the swarm and a neighbor helped and cut it off and she lowered it into the box. Of course her bee suit was in my truck so she didn?t have any protection.
Jim Altmiller
That is awesome! Great job Judy! It must be nice to have a team work family situation as you two must enjoy! My wife is supportive of me and my bees and excited for me; "At a distance" Haa haa :wink:
-
Jim, I told you in post 37 that I have never caught a swarm. Well, I received a call from County School Systems asking if I could remove a swarm from one of the school properties. I had to decline. I told the Administrator that I was tied up with my dad at the hospital, that I appreciated his call very much and under normal circumstances, I would have burnt rubber squealing tires to get there. We had a good laugh. Dang I wanted that swarm bad! Good news; they did a 50/50 chance of success or failure surgery on my dad. I am happy to report that th surgery was a success! He will hopefully be going home for real. L(hopefully), coming back only for Dr. appointments! What a blessing for him and my family! Thank each of you for your prayers. We thought he was leaving us more than once!
-
That's pretty cool Jim. Thank you for sharing these things.
-
Phillip,
Really glad the surgery went really well. I know how rough that is to deal with. My dad was hospitalized most of December and January due to strokes. He is now at home with 24 hour a day nurse team in PA.
Judy started to get involved when I built the observation hive, it quickly became hers. The first time I went to split it, she was telling me which frames to keep and which ones to remove. Then when I went to do cutouts and my buddies could not make it, she would go just to be my safety person. She did the same in the apiary. She can now handle frames and even pull frames out of the hive.
It is important for your wife to get stung from time to time. If your clothes are getting stung while working bees and she is doing your laundry without getting stung, she can get a severe allergic reaction. The venom dries on the suits and clothes and goes air borne and is inhaled and the dust causes the wrong reaction. The stings keep the immune system working properly.
Jim
-
Thank you Jim, I am sorry that your dad is in such a condition and had to and is, suffering such a terriable fate. That is rough. I hope he has a good an outlook as can be hoped for.
I am hoping that my wife will eventuallly (brave up) 😁. Thank you for reminding me of the bee venom in the description that you described. I had heard of this very thing happening. Michale Palmer said he had this very thing happen to one of his children in the same circumstances that you described. As always I appreciate your advise and encouragement.
Phillip
-
No problem Phillip. You bring up a good point about children. Could be a problem if they are near the laundry room during or after handling bee clothes.
Jim
-
Ben as dealing with family in hospital recently also I hope he does well and has A quick rwcovwry
Jim, I told you in post 37 that I have never caught a swarm. Well, I received a call from County School Systems asking if I could remove a swarm from one of the school properties. I had to decline. I told the Administrator that I was tied up with my dad at the hospital, that I appreciated his call very much and under normal circumstances, I would have burnt rubber squealing tires to get there. We had a good laugh. Dang I wanted that swarm bad! Good news; they did a 50/50 chance of success or failure surgery on my dad. I am happy to report that th surgery was a success! He will hopefully be going home for real. L(hopefully), coming back only for Dr. appointments! What a blessing for him and my family! Thank each of you for your prayers. We thought he was leaving us more than once!
well done Jim and Judy I received a call for this swarm in Jacksonxille while at the farm. I called Judy, she has in town, Five minutes away. I asked her to get a spray bottle of sugar water and lightly spray them to stop the scouts from dancing and making them move to a new location. By the time I arrived an hour later she had the swarm in a ice chest and they were all gathering into it. She held the branch above the swarm and a neighbor helped and cut it off and she lowered it into the box. Of course her bee suit was in my truck so she didn?t have any protection.
Jim Altmiller
-
So, I was reclining on my couch browsing Beemaster this afternoon and my friend who got me into bee keeping txts me. Says he's got a swarm in his front yard, and asks me if I want it. Then he says he's already caught 3 swarms in 3 weeks and has all the bees he needs right now. "Sure" I said.
45 mins later this is what I found.
My 1st swarm of the season, and only my second ever. Good times. :happy:
-
Yes indeed, Congratulations Alan!
Phillip
-
That is a nice one.
Jim Altmiller
-
Thank you Phillip and Jim. The ladies made it home safely. When I opened the box at home to adjust the frames properly, that's when I realized this was a good swarm. They had all 8 frames covered. :) ... I feel blessed today. :happy: can't let all of you have all the fun! :grin: :happy: :cool:
-
Thank you Phillip and Jim. The ladies made it home safely. When I opened the box at home to adjust the frames properly, that's when I realized this was a good swarm. They had all 8 frames covered. :) ... I feel blessed today. :happy: can't let all of you have all the fun! :grin: :happy: :cool:
I'm glad you had fun! That is a nice new hive and was nice of your friend to call you. I'm still anxiously wanting to join the swarm catchers club!! Ha haa
Alan, Just for educational purposes, did your friend know the origin of the swarm. I was wondering if it might have originated from the same source as the previous ones that he has already caught this season?
Thanks,
Phillip
-
Phillip, he's not sure of the origin. He's got some hills to the west along the coast where most of his bees come from. They are wild (feral) bees for the most part. No commercials within 15 miles that anyone knows of. He lives "in town" but close enough to the hills. Could be somebody's backyard swarm also.
My guess is its from his hives, since he doesn't do swarm management. I.e. - its the same genetics as one of the lines I already have from him - still feral mutts in origin.
We opened 3 of his hives while we waited for the bees to settle into the box. No hive of his had bees in the 2nd or 3rd box. Really suprised me - mine are working on the 4th and 5th boxes, and his "flow" started 4 weeks before mine due to elevation differences.
I'm guessing his are doing the swarming due to his management style.
Also - his bees untreated (last year at my house) had a totally different growth rate last year, than they had this year after treatment this winter. So I really don't know either. Attitude wise, they closely resemble my favorite line of genetics that I already have.
-
I have caught a few swarms that I am sure came from a commercial Beek, The bees are larger than my mutts, and from remembering , which ain't what it used to be, They did not do as well as the smaller feral bees that I normally remove from the homeless list.
-
Mr. Cool, what more could you want? Easy low hanging fruit, accessible, nice size swarm it is. Count your Blessings, you will forever remember that swarm.
There are some really nice size swarms in the pics by forum beeks. Thanks for posting fellas, Jim, Cool, I enjoy looking at all the photos.
Still a lil cool in my area, bees began profitable foraging last week. My bees are about 2 weeks behind due to cold here in N. Arkansas: Frost yesterday morning. Not complaining at all, as getting better by the day.
Cheers
-
Van - "low-hanging fruit" are the best. Some people advertise, struggle, worry, to get swarms. Not me. I was relaxing on my couch (finally) and this one jumped up and .... ... well, nevermind. Those are the best. :grin:
I did 3 splits today. Swarm prevention. Also, I checked on a split I did early last week during an inspection. Pulled a frame full of swarm cells to make the split. It's now queenreight with fresh eggs. Yeah buddy. That takes me to 9 ... from 4. And I'm going to split my production hives (2nd yr queens) once the flow stops (usually May here).
We will see ... :grin:
-
feeling SO advanced after hundreds of you tube hours studying and no bees yet, i placed a swarm ad on the neighborhood app. several people contacted me. I thought, What the hell have i done??? I did get one from a hot tub and one from a hollow landscaping rock. low hanging indeed!!
-
Blue Grass, personally - I like the taste of low hanging fruit! [Hehehe] :grin:
-
I was at work yesterday and left back if my truck open and pulled a nuc out and had scout bees around it so I left it in a spot and baited it so will see what happens fingers crossed
swarm traps in back of truck do give you hints on where to place traps. I usually have a few in the back of truck to replace traps that have caught or if I find a good location to place one. Any activity around truck and I find somewhere nearby to set my trap.
jtcmedic, ed/La. have y'all had any luck so far related to the above?
Yes I try to keep bait traps in truck in case I find a new location or changing one out that caught. If I come out to my truck and there is activity I find somewhere nearby to set a bait box. I have latters on truck so I put them in a tree 8 to 12 feet up so no-one mess it. When it catches I can pick it up at my leisure because it is high enough that people don't freak out. The trick is to put out as many as you can. Always have a few ready to set.
-
I would take all the bees and shake them out in front of their door and leave...
And hope he doesn't have a RING doorbell! :cool:
...DOUG
KD4MOJ