Feral Survival

[LazyBkpr]

  Almost forgot!
   Went out last weekend and walked to the spots I knew had feral colonies.
  Of the seven spots I knew of, and two a buddy knew of, we found four of nine colonies still alive..
  Of the three cut outs I had booked last fall, NONE survived the winter. I have since booked another cut out for next week...   but the odds for the feral hives do not look really good at this point.
   I am going to put out my boxes next week and we will see what happens.

[Jen]

Good Luck with that 

[Perry]

Wow, those are poor overwintering results for the ferals. Too bad. 

[robo]

Of the ferals you mentioned,  how many of them had already made it through a winter,  and how many of them would this have been the first winter?

[iddee]

You might want to list the surviving ones here.

www.savethehives.com

Be sure to click on the map link.

[LazyBkpr]

Now that you mention it Robo...
   The hive thats been in my fathers/step grandfathers tree since before WW2 survived. They are flying today in fact. Three of the four hives I knew about survived last winter. One I found last year so I don't know how long they have been there. All of the rest of them were first year colonies.    I should have taken a quick vid of the ones in the family tree. I'll try to do that tomorrow.

[blueblood]

Wow, that is a long time, since WWII.  Do you have any photos of the tree back then?  I would be extremely interested in seeing them.  I haven't checked on the feral hives I know of yet.  While on patrol today I noticed a tree trimmer and his crew working.  I stopped and gave him my card and asked that he call if he ran into any bees.  Networking really pays off.

[LazyBkpr]

 I would highly doubt it is the same bees inhabiting the tree.. Meaning the Same colony through swarming etc, but the fact remains it HAS had bees in it for a VERY long time.  I remember climbing this tree as a kid, and being run out of it... not by the bees, but by parents and grandparents BECAUSE it had bees in it.
  I know there are family pictures with the tree in the background, but do not know if they will show bees around the opening..
   At one point this tree was the center of a steel pile, with misc pieces of scrap tossed about it to a depth of nearly four feet..   When my step grandfather passed away, the farm went to my father, and he started cleaning.. this cleaning continues today, and if you have not heard the story, is how I ended up with a water tank of bees...
   Mom said she was on the porch reading her book. Dad was busy loading scrap steel on the trailer...  she looked up in time to see him head across the yard with the tank...  he paused.. he dropped the tank and flapped his arms...  Then, she said, he lit out like his tail was on fire... his arms were waving and he was going faster than she had seen him go in 65 years..
 She dropped the book and ran into the house and locked the door as he was yelling BEES! BEEEEEES! as he ran toward her...
   Thinking better of it she unlocked the door before he arrived and ran for the bedroom, locking herself in there...

   They both stood watching through the window as I picked up the tank and gently put it back where it had been.  I waited until dark, screened it up and took it home...

   I have since seen a swarm from that tree leave for parts unknown, and I have seen a swarm from that tree take up residence in a hydraulic oil barrel about 20 feet from the tree.  I know one swarm took up residence in an old delivery truck that used to sit on the property, and another took up residence in the gas grill that always sat out on the porch.
    Hoping from here forward they will choose my swarm boxes.
   If I catch a swarm from this tree, My first task is going to be producing a dozen queens from it to see how resistant they are.

[Jen]

There ya go again waxing great bee stories Scott!

Across the street from my shop, there is a refurbished building where attourney's have been working for as long as I can remember. The original livingroom fireplace was taken out and the wall sheetrocked, but they left the chimney intact. I stepped thru the front door of this building last summer and a very nice man with towers of papers on either side of him smiled. I inquired about the bees. He said that yes they were well aware of the bees in the chimney, that they have been living there for over 40 years. He winked and said "The bees keep us honest."

I winked back and thanked him for his time and left. The glory of this story is that I can see that chimney with the busy bees while I'm calming and helping people and their pain issues. Not only that, but I have taught people in that room how to relieve pain with Bee Venom Therapy ~ I am blessed 

[LazyBkpr]

So guess which bees are being FED ?
   Only the ones I can drive right up to. 

   The family bee tree;

[Jen]

That's Awesome Scott!

[robo]

So guess which bees are being FED ?
   Only the ones I can drive right up to. 

   The family bee tree;

Awesome! Hopefully they are still there in another 70 years.

So are they still survivors if being fed?

[LazyBkpr]

So guess which bees are being FED ?
   Only the ones I can drive right up to. 

   The family bee tree;

Awesome! Hopefully they are still there in another 70 years.

So are they still survivors if being fed?

      heheh, Don't know, I am hoping they will be swarmers.   

[Jen]

Are ya ready for those swarmers? 

[robo]

      heheh, Don't know, I am hoping they will be swarmers.   

I like your thinking     Too many folks are set on cutting them out.......

[LazyBkpr]

   I think the best selector for genetics/survivability is Mother Nature. If they can survive out in a tree with the mites, moths, beetles diseases, pesticides, and fungicides, etc....  then my efforts to keep them in a little box should necessarily be reduced.
   I do cut outs if I get paid to do them, otherwise the bees stay right where they are. If I catch a swarm. Fantastic! If I miss? then theres another feral colony starting up somewhere to give me a swarm next year.   Part of the beauty of living rural!!

[Jen]

I Salute You Scott! Leave that tree bee! She stands like a sentinal for the bees of the world. And there's my soapbox for the day ~