Looks what I found while walking the dogs.

[jjirons69]

Originally Posted by Rockestone

Wow!! Why do I have an urge to run up and hit that heap with a stick!!

Something tells me that would be very bad idea.

Greg, you sound a lot like me. The challenge of hitting it and hauling ass was too tempting growing up! Now that I'm 40, I'd just throw a stick at it.

Cool picture Hal. Keep your eye on it and report back what happens.

[taltos]

I went back and checked some references from when I kept bees. A better explanation than what I gave earlier is that the population outgrew its hive and the old queen and many of the workers and foragers have left the hive. This is a correction to my previous post where I stated that the swarm had a new queen. The workers will raise a new (virgin) queen from some special egg cells and by feeding the larvae special food (queen jelly). The first queen out if healthy will be allowed to sting and kill any remaining queen larvae. If the workers sense that the new queen is not 100 per cent, they will sting this queen to death and await the emergence of the next one. After the queen gains strength, she must make a mating flight where she flies high into the air and is pursued by the drones. One will catch the queen and mate with her and will promptly die. The queen only needs to mate once. The rest of the drones will die by winter and will only be replaced at the next hive division. Hope that this helps.

[AAlmeter]

Originally Posted by taltos

I went back and checked some references from when I kept bees. A better explanation than what I gave earlier is that the population outgrew its hive and the old queen and many of the workers and foragers have left the hive. This is a correction to my previous post where I stated that the swarm had a new queen. The workers will raise a new (virgin) queen from some special egg cells and by feeding the larvae special food (queen jelly). The first queen out if healthy will be allowed to sting and kill any remaining queen larvae. If the workers sense that the new queen is not 100 per cent, they will sting this queen to death and await the emergence of the next one. After the queen gains strength, she must make a mating flight where she flies high into the air and is pursued by the drones. One will catch the queen and mate with her and will promptly die. The queen only needs to mate once. The rest of the drones will die by winter and will only be replaced at the next hive division. Hope that this helps.

This sounds so much better than 10 months of ads for congressional and presidential elections....



I just pity the poor drone that would have to pursue Hillary or Pelosi.

[taltos]

Originally Posted by AAlmeter

This sounds so much better than 10 months of ads for congressional and presidential elections....



I just pity the poor drone that would have to pursue Hillary or Pelosi.

How about if this also worked in show business. The drone who had to catch Rosie O'Donnell would kill himself first.

[BlackDog]

Originally Posted by taltos

How about if this also worked in show business. The drone who had to catch Rosie O'Donnell would kill himself first.

Originally Posted by taltos

I went back and checked some references from when I kept bees. A better explanation than what I gave earlier is that the population outgrew its hive and the old queen and many of the workers and foragers have left the hive. This is a correction to my previous post where I stated that the swarm had a new queen. The workers will raise a new (virgin) queen from some special egg cells and by feeding the larvae special food (queen jelly). The first queen out if healthy will be allowed to sting and kill any remaining queen larvae. If the workers sense that the new queen is not 100 per cent, they will sting this queen to death and await the emergence of the next one. After the queen gains strength, she must make a mating flight where she flies high into the air and is pursued by the drones. One will catch the queen and mate with her and will promptly die. The queen only needs to mate once. The rest of the drones will die by winter and will only be replaced at the next hive division. Hope that this helps.

Who wants to start a human bee culture society?

Originally Posted by taltos

The queen only needs to mate once. The rest of the drones will die by winter and will only be replaced at the next hive division. Hope that this helps.

Crap, now I understand, I think I used to date a Queen Bee

[HK3-]

I checked them again today while walking the dogs.... They are still there in the same place? The formation shape has changed though.. Must be too cheap to pay rent and got kicked out.

[SvilleKid]

Originally Posted by HK3-

I checked them again today while walking the dogs.... They are still there in the same place? The formation shape has changed though.. Must be too cheap to pay rent and got kicked out.

The cool thing about the "swarm" is that you can walk right up to it with an empty super (those wooden boxes used in bee-keeping), gently rake the swarm around until you can spot the queen, easily brush her into the super, and the rest of the bees will follow her in. Put the lid on the super, and you have the start of a colony.

Hard to tell without a reference, but they look big enough to be Italian bees. If they were wild bees, probably wouldn't be able to get close enough for those photos. Italian bees tend to be very docile, even when in a swarm. Mainly, they are looking for a home. I've helped capture half a dozen swarms in the past, all but one without the need of protection other than a bee hood. The one exception was a wild bee swarm. They tend to be a little more excitable.

I would imagine that somewhere within a mile or so away, someone is missing a colony out of their hive! As a rule, you would keep a "queen excluder" between the layer of supers with the queen and the super with the exit slot. This keeps the queen inside the hive, and the colony around to serve her.

Maybe a good opportunity for you to take up a new hobby??

[HK3-]

Originally Posted by SvilleKid

The cool thing about the "swarm" is that you can walk right up to it with an empty super (those wooden boxes used in bee-keeping), gently rake the swarm around until you can spot the queen, easily brush her into the super, and the rest of the bees will follow her in. Put the lid on the super, and you have the start of a colony.

Hard to tell without a reference, but they look big enough to be Italian bees. If they were wild bees, probably wouldn't be able to get close enough for those photos. Italian bees tend to be very docile, even when in a swarm. Mainly, they are looking for a home. I've helped capture half a dozen swarms in the past, all but one without the need of protection other than a bee hood. The one exception was a wild bee swarm. They tend to be a little more excitable.

I would imagine that somewhere within a mile or so away, someone is missing a colony out of their hive! As a rule, you would keep a "queen excluder" between the layer of supers with the queen and the super with the exit slot. This keeps the queen inside the hive, and the colony around to serve her.

Maybe a good opportunity for you to take up a new hobby??

Sounds like fun. I have messed around with some bees in the past but it was all just helping out for me. An old friend of mine from back home had a nice little colony. I remember having to go to the USPS to pickup a large humming box. I had no idea you could order bees online and have them sent to you. (I would imagine a mean joke could be played somewhere with these capabilities.) When it arrived the queen was inside a little wooden box with two or three drones to keep her safe, etc. Looks like it would be a fun hobby.