Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: 2Sox on September 07, 2013, 03:23:34 pm
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In the last week, I've gotten seven calls for swarms! And this is in the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York. We've already had a couple of frosts. Is anyone experiencing something similar in your area? And can someone offer an explanation for this late swarming behavior? Thanks.
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i had a swarm call 2 weeks ago. 5 of 6 of my last removal calls turned out to be yellow jackets. i've started asking people to e-mail me photos before i travel very far.
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Just got a call from a guy, said they were swarming in his tree. Went over there, looked like a whole hive was foraging in a flowering tree lol,
If they are indeed swarms, it goes against all logic that's for sure. The parent hive is going to be screwed cause that new queen is going to have a hard time getting mated & laying before winter sets in. Used to drive truck thru the Catskills, snow sets in early up there.
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Just got a call from a guy, said they were swarming in his tree. Went over there, looked like a whole hive was foraging in a flowering tree lol,
If they are indeed swarms, it goes against all logic that's for sure. The parent hive is going to be screwed cause that new queen is going to have a hard time getting mated & laying before winter sets in. Used to drive truck thru the Catskills, snow sets in early up there.
All swarms. I caught four. I learned to ask for those email photos too.
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hive beetle victims
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wouldn't think it's hive beetles up there. i know someone in oregon that has still been getting swarm calls. he's lower than i, but still they should have been done at least a month ago.
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they found them in ontario in 2010. is there a northern limit to their range?
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Looks like your lows are already getting down in the 40's. Weather all over the place. Were they in close proximity of each other? Maybe something bad happened in someone's yard and forced them to relocate. Looks kinda late for swarms in your location.
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Are they all queen right?Perhaps a late goldenrod/aster flow was abundant enough to get a colony built to swarm strength.If that goal had not been met all summer,the resources may have finally been met.
Are there drones present?
They may be absconds for what ever reason, but fall swarms are not unheard of if resources are available.
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Are they all queen right?Perhaps a late goldenrod/aster flow was abundant enough to get a colony built to swarm strength.If that goal had not been met all summer,the resources may have finally been met.
Are there drones present?
They may be absconds for what ever reason, but fall swarms are not unheard of if resources are available.
Loosetrife is just finishing and goldenrod is bangin! Bees are bringing in lots of pollen. Abundant resources may just be the answer.
Don't know if they are queen right yet. Will be checking today or tomorrow. But they seem to be behaving as they are queen right.
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good luck :-)
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good luck :-)
Thanks! Aster is starting to come up too. Strong aroma of honey coming from the bee yard. I'll need that luck. I lost all sixteen of my colonies over last winter. Built back up to twelve through swarms and cut outs. Most looking pretty strong.
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Give them only the room they need to expand the colony and build stores. Add frames/boxes if necessary,but a lot of empty space when nights are getting cool will make them slower to get built up.
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Give them only the room they need to expand the colony and build stores. Add frames/boxes if necessary,but a lot of empty space when nights are getting cool will make them slower to get built up.
Good advice. Thanks.
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good luck :-)
Thanks! Aster is starting to come up too. Strong aroma of honey coming from the bee yard. I'll need that luck. I lost all sixteen of my colonies over last winter. Built back up to twelve through swarms and cut outs. Most looking pretty strong.
Hate to hear that you lost so much from last year but very proud to hear that you didn't give up! Hope your colonies from this year will survive and thrive come next spring! Keep us posted! [=
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good luck :-)
Thanks! Aster is starting to come up too. Strong aroma of honey coming from the bee yard. I'll need that luck. I lost all sixteen of my colonies over last winter. Built back up to twelve through swarms and cut outs. Most looking pretty strong.
Hate to hear that you lost so much from last year but very proud to hear that you didn't give up! Hope your colonies from this year will survive and thrive come next spring! Keep us posted! [=
Thanks for your kind words of encouragement.
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i had a swarm call 2 weeks ago. 5 of 6 of my last removal calls turned out to be yellow jackets. i've started asking people to e-mail me photos before i travel very far.
I got a call last weekend. Lady was positive they were honeybees. I asked her to send a pic. She said they were too high up to take one. I made the drive. Yellowjackets.
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Oddly enough I work in pest control.
I've had to exterminate many a yellowjacket nests! This year there seems to be a whole lot more.. I don't like to do it but I will kill them when they're near areas of high foot traffic. If they're honeybees I refuse to kill them and my company will let me go back on my off hours to remove them.. IF the removal (cut-out) is too difficult or the home owner doesn't want any deconstruction done on their home then they will have to find another business to get rid of their honeybees because our company has finally taken a stand on not killing the honeybees. [=
I found out the hard way over a month ago that bald faced hornets can sting through coveralls! Haven't ran that hard in a LONG time. :roll:
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TenshiB. Wher Are you located in GA. . I'm in middle Ga. (Gray, Jones Co.) So I can send calls that I get in your area to you . I try not to travel more that 1 county away from me. ( cost does not cover the Fee nowadays)
John
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Here the yellow jackets are much more aggressive than usual this year. Several of us at the RC flying field have had stings for no apparent reason, myself I note them bumping into me. Cannot find a nest though. I also notice this year they are hanging out NEAR, but not on the hives, mostly on the ground in front working on any dead stuff dropped out in front.
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TenshiB. Wher Are you located in GA. . I'm in middle Ga. (Gray, Jones Co.) So I can send calls that I get in your area to you . I try not to travel more that 1 county away from me. ( cost does not cover the Fee nowadays)
John
I live in Thomson, GA (McDuffie Co.). But my company sends us all over the place.. Today I was all over Augusta, GA. Sometimes I'm in Edgefield, Johnston, Trenton areas of South Carolina. Sometimes they'll have me as far out as Lexington or Saluda, SC.. Other times I'm in Warrenton, Gibson, Wrens, Stapleton GA.. It reminds me of that Johnny Cash song.. "I've been everywhere, man"
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The yellowjacket calls I've been getting lately have been for yj's in behind siding! I miss the 'ol hole-in-the-ground yj's when it comes to exterminating. The siding yj's are tricky. Most people around here don't want to allow cutouts...."I don't want my dang sheetrock cut!"
p.s. Tenshi and I are brothers (twins, actually), and work in the same pest control company.
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The yellowjacket calls I've been getting lately have been for yj's in behind siding! I miss the 'ol hole-in-the-ground yj's when it comes to exterminating. The siding yj's are tricky. Most people around here don't want to allow cutouts...."I don't want my dang sheetrock cut!"
p.s. Tenshi and I are brothers (twins, actually), and work in the same pest control company.
I think the wet ground and rain moved them to the siding this year. I removed some yj's from a planter with fake flowers hanging on a porch wall yesterday.
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Received a call a couple of weeks ago. Honey bees in a flower pot. She was sure they were honeybees. Drove 30 minutes to find yellow jackets. I should have known better but last year I did get a small swarm of bees from a flower pot.
Jim
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The yellowjacket calls I've been getting lately have been for yj's in behind siding! I miss the 'ol hole-in-the-ground yj's when it comes to exterminating. The siding yj's are tricky. Most people around here don't want to allow cutouts...."I don't want my dang sheetrock cut!"
p.s. Tenshi and I are brothers (twins, actually), and work in the same pest control company.
I'm a Identical twin too. my brother lives in sandston Va. I'v got 3 cutouts waiting to hear back from. I'm hopping the goldenrod comes in real soon. they are just starting to get tall and legey. about 1 week out till bloom.
John
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Two weeks ago I got a swarm call close by and it was a big swarm. No drones that I could see. I had drawn comb to give them and am feeding them. They probably won't make it though the Winter, but they sure are giving it a go and I'm willing to let them.
JC
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Greenbtree
Let us know how it goes because we got a cut-out from a log in early August and they aren't doing too well. We put them in new hardware with the exception that we rubberbanded a lot of their cutout comb in empty frames.. We checked yesterday and they were maybe only using 2 frames out of seven that had rubberbanded "natural" comb..
The queen is not theirs but they did accept her.. Maybe her big ol' "commercial" butt can's back down into the smaller cell size of the "wild" comb?