Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: 2kooldad on May 20, 2011, 01:55:51 pm
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I joined a bee forum to talk with people that knew about beekeeping...I wasnt disapointed...but I figure I better ask these questions one at a time incase others want to know too...here goes
I caught a feral swarm as my first hive...everybody tells me they are part african...must be a small part cuz they are super gental...this is the tropics in florida...they have had to evolve with SHB...the local bee farm here (if a guys got 2000 hives ima guess he knows what he is talken bout) says that, after seeing a few of my feral bees, i have captured the older breed of feral bees...they are small...alot smaller than the carnys...they are or look like tiny italians...it came to me when checking 2 of the hives...the ferals an carnys are 1 1/2 feet apart...on the same stand...in the same kinda hive...with the same frames...treated the same way...under the same magnolia tree...only diffrence is the bees...now the carnys have had SHB for awhile now...its a good strong hive...they keep them at bay on the edges of the inner cover mostly...thats where i see them the most anyhow...the feral bees...nada..not one..all gone...no beatles...i'd go from mashing them in the carny hive to nothing in the feral hive...NOW HERE'S THE KICKER...i decided to requeen the ferals with a carny queen...the day i took out the feral queen and put in the carny the hive beatles moved in...that is not a random happening...they didnt come in the cage with the new queen so what gives...i think the ferals here are adapting...if they are doing the same as the africans...will they do the same with varroa ??? hmmmmmm
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I can't answer your question. But I would like to ask you one.
Why would you want to requeen a hive that can handle SHBs? :?
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well ok...i dont really want to...but i live in florida...we are at war with the AHB and LOOSING...they say that almost all honey bees here now that get naturaly mated will bring back a small amount of AHB and if you are south of me, cuz im on the front lines, the bees get mean...if you have never heard about all the little things the africans do...you should go onto youtube and watch the state of florida AHB seminar...they are very kool bees dispite thier nasty temper...unlike any other (i cant think of the word they used...but did you know they send out itty bitty golf ball size swarms that land on your beehives and one by one go to the entrance, get your bees smell somehow, then sneak in and kill the EHB queen and replace her on the spot with their own queen...instant large AHB hive) anyways the state of florida wants everybody to requeen their hives with EHB queens every 6 months...it made me sick to do it...she was a kick but queen too...the state doesnt event want people catching feral swarms here...the local inspector almost had a corinary when i told him i caught my own swarm...well i have a second chance...the feral bees went queen crazy when i removed the old queen....so i have a frame with a bunch o queen cells made from the original feral queen...for the state of florida being all up in my face about rules...funny i cant get an inspector here to save my life...their rule..not mine :/
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i need to learn to keep this simple...my question was....does the queen bee's presence in the hive...her phermones...have that big of an impact on the rest of the hive...enuff to cause them to shut down all hygenic behavior in order to requeen ??
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Squishing their queen would have totally disrupted their routine. Maybe the SHB were just waiting for the opportunity to move in. Might take them a few days to get back into their normal hygenic routines? Not sure, but I can see how a rush to build new queen cells would pull resources away from other concerns.
I have to second sterling's question, though. Why did you squish her? I understand the issues with AHB. But you said in your first post that the bees were super gentle. Was the old queen failing?
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Florida "recommends" it. It is not law. Tell them to kiss where the sun doesn't shine and make you a couple nucs with those cells. If one turns mean, re queen it. If not, keep your ferals.
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i didnt squish her...i couldnt...i put here in the queen cage and gave her a spot of honey and left her in the shade...if the other queen didnt live i wanted to put her back...she died anyways...i knew she would...i just couldnd squish her...sighhhh...she was an egg laying machine...i am with you after this...im already waiting to put that fram into a nuc...heres a question...how long can you leave bees in a nuc...i dont have any more hives built..or frames..or anything...frames are the big thing i guess...is it worth just building a nuc and putting plain frames with wax strips just to have these bees untill i get around to it ??
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Beg everyone's pardon...
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Thank you.
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Can you try to make a frame?
http://www.beebehavior.com/foundationless_frames_brood_area.php (http://www.beebehavior.com/foundationless_frames_brood_area.php)
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yes...the state only recomends it...its not a law...yet...but i will try to help if i can...i would hate to piss of an AHB hive...thanks WD...thats right up my alley...free frames...all i gotta do is cut them...nice...its on now :-D
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wow
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Just my opinion but anytime the bureaucrats "recommend" something, you can bet it has absolutely no benefit for you. :-x
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yes...the state only recomends it...its not a law...yet...but i will try to help if i can..
If your hive is well behaved, it's not AHB so you are not helping anyone if you kill a good queen. Florida has these recommendations for people who are not paying attention to their individual hives the way your are.