Bug Ranching...(it's like cows in a box)

[ol' Feller]

Just in case anybody was just dying to know what's involved with catching a swarm of honeybees...(short pause to make sure I'm in the "Off-Topic" forum)...

This time of year around here is when honeybees do their swarming thing, which is how honey bees multiply. A colony will raise another queen and pump up the population so that at the right time, the old queen will leave the hive and 1/4 to 1/2 of the colony will leave with her, (they swarm), all for the purpose of setting up shop in a new location, thus starting a new colony, thus multiplying.
They know to get it done ASAP early in the spring so that the new colony, which is starting out with nothing, will have time to get a hive built and stocked and stored so they can survive through the winter. (You didn't think they were making the honey for us, did you?) Once the old queen leaves the hive, she will fly a short distance and land on a bush or a limb (hopefully not a high one!) and the swarm will pile up on top of her making the swarm cluster. They'll hang out (literally) in this fashion for 2 hours to 2 days as scout bees search for a suitable place for the new colony to set up.
After the scouts relay their recon info to the swarm (ie: I found a hollow tree, and it's X far and X high off the ground in X direction and X big....Well, I found a nice hole in a guy's garage wall and it is Y far and Y high off the ground in Y direction and Y big....you get the idea) the entire cluster of bees will evaluate, come to a concensus and break cluster and be gone in less than one minute and fly directly to a hole or something in a place that they have never been to or seen before, and start a new colony....I could go on and on....bees are cool. One third of everything we eat is due to honeybee pollination, I don't know about you, but I really, really enjoy every third bite of what I eat! (I've heard that, "if you don't eat, you'll die!")
Anyway, while the swarm is hanging there figuring out where they're going to go, they can be caught and put in a hive, here's what it looks like:

A swarm hanging around and needing a home:
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f147/93ST1100/Bee%20Stuff/01.jpg

Looks like about 3 pounds of bees, (about 13000-14000 bees)
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f147/93ST1100/Bee%20Stuff/02.jpg

Ready....aim.....
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f147/93ST1100/Bee%20Stuff/03.jpg

Shake 'em off,
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f147/93ST1100/Bee%20Stuff/04.jpg

That's pretty much it...(it looks like bees are on me, but the camera caught them flying in front of my white coveralls)
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f147/93ST1100/Bee%20Stuff/05.jpg

The bees spread out over the frames and I put the remaining frames back in,
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f147/93ST1100/Bee%20Stuff/06.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f147/93ST1100/Bee%20Stuff/10.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f147/93ST1100/Bee%20Stuff/08.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f147/93ST1100/Bee%20Stuff/12.jpg

Not much to it actually....
Here's a short video of a really easy one!! This small swarm was very nice! LOL, they don't usually land in such an easy spot as this!


http://vimeo.com/22619509

And then that one in the video gets finished up, closed up, and after dark (when all the bees are in the hive), I'll move it to a stand with the others and hope for a good nectar flow this year!
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f147/93ST1100/Bee%20Stuff/P4180596.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f147/93ST1100/Bee%20Stuff/P4180602.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f147/93ST1100/Bee%20Stuff/P4180603.jpg


Be nice to bees!;)

[wetinaline]

That is very cool. Thankyou for sharing.

[HiCountry]

Bee keeping is cool. Some fresh honey and honeycomb is the best.

[RedHeron]

Neat! Always wondered how you convinced several thousand stinging insects to reside in a man-made box.
This spring was the first time I've seen a honey bee in about 6 years. I hope they start rebounding.

[Kickbass]

Nice, good to to get educated on something new

[ol' Feller]

Neat! Always wondered how you convinced several thousand stinging insects to reside in a man-made box.
This spring was the first time I've seen a honey bee in about 6 years. I hope they start rebounding.

They only sting when they feel threatened. When in swarm mode they are as docile as can be, (there's no hive, nothing to defend).
To swarm, they will have gorged on about a three day supply of honey to get them through, and it makes them act like they've smoked too much dope...they're pretty laid back and happy-like when they're swarming. But once the new hive is established and there's some brood in the nursury, they'll "encourage" you to move along.
Also, a honeybee can only sting once...and it's a suicide shot because the bee will die within a few minutes after stinging...so they do a lot of warning, they try to make the stings really count if they have to go that far.

[patrick reif]

my wife says you're crazy or on drugs.

I can't convince her you just like eating bee barf.
She's allergic to bees so she doesn't recognise the differance between honey bees and yellow jackets...she's dead either way

We had several hundred honey bees come into my dads den when we were kids. we simply held our hands in front of the bees so they'd crawl on to our fingers and then placed them in a paper bag and then moved to a guy down the road who kept bees...problem solved with no stings.

[ol' Feller]

I can't convince her you just like eating bee barf..
haha...yup, pretty much what honey is....but LOADED with antioxidents (spelled right?) and major good stuff...IF IT'S NOT BEEN HEATED. (Some bigger processors heat honey so it'll run better so they can process more/faster, does not affect the taste, but does wipe out much of the healthy goodies in honey)


She's allergic to bees so she doesn't recognise the differance between honey bees and yellow jackets...she's dead either way..
I hate getting stung, even only once. I'll suit up just to avoid the one PO'd bee.


We had several hundred honey bees come into my dads den when we were kids. we simply held our hands in front of the bees so they'd crawl on to our fingers and then placed them in a paper bag and then moved to a guy down the road who kept bees...problem solved with no stings.
Sounds like a swarm found a way in the attic or a wall or something. Only swarming bees will move around like that, and swarming bees are way laid back...you'd have to mash one to get it to sting you (but it would!) That's way I suit up for catching swarms, it's likely there's gonna be bees all over and I don't want one to get in a shirt fold, or worse, and me bend over and mash it and get stung.
When you see pictures of somebody with honeybees all over them, (the bee-beard comes to mind), that's a swarm they're dealing with.

[castapotamus]

More from our resident Renaissance man, please. Neat insight into that part of your world. Thanks!!

[mookie]

I was playing tennis with some carpenter bees earlier this evening :) actually a badminton raquet works better, either way they don't like to play

[blake]

ol' Feller,

Dad was just talking about keeping bees tonight. What considerations go into hive placement? Do they need a certain size clear fly zone? Does the hive need full sun or is shade okay? He was thinking of placing hives between a shade and a fence.

[ol' Feller]

Dad was just talking about keeping bees tonight. What considerations go into hive placement? Do they need a certain size clear fly zone? Does the hive need full sun or is shade okay? He was thinking of placing hives between a shade and a fence.

They'll benefit from all the area you can give them, (all they want to do is work, work, work) and they can adapt to what they have to, but they don't require a certain size clear area. I try to set the hives where they'll be as undisturbed as possible.
I have found that they like to get as much morning sun as possible, it gets them going sooner in the day and they get more work done (which makes them happy...and me too). Through the day they prefer full sun to shade and will produce more in full sun, but they can adapt to shade very well. (May not produce quite as much because of slower starts in the AM...much like me on Mondays).
Bears would be my big concern for your area, (regarding placement). I'd check with a few local bee keepers to see what their placement strategies/suggestions are for bears, who can decimate a bee yard. I don't have to deal with bears just yet. There are very few of them around here, but they're moving this way more and more.

Your area should be great for sourwood trees.

[blake]

Thanks for the info.

We are in town so no bear issues. (Well maybe once every 3 years a juvenile will wander into town, mostly dumpster diving though). If he lived 15 or so miles closer to the national forest, it would be an issue.

Dad's honey source (2 gallons a year), recently passed away and lived a couple house away. He said most of his honey was produced off clover. Dad is retired and was thinking about taking up as a hobby just to have enough honey for personal use. His father raised bees, so he watched but never really got into the nitty gritty details.

[ol' Feller]

Bees can be worked in town just fine. May want to put them close to tall shrubbry or building so they'll have to hit a high flight path coming and going...so's not to bother people, avoid windshields, etc. Here's a good source for info, materials, info, supplies, info... http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/
There are plenty other places as well, Brushy Mtn would be a good place to start IMO.
I'm sure there's some local bee keepers that would gladly help your Dad get a hive started, in most NC counties there is usually a county-based beekeepers association.

[Jeff]

My hunting partner keeps bees and he at least gets stung once every time he gets around them. Thanks for sharing...

[KG]

Feller's honey, makes a nice present for River Access on some old farms. Honey works everytime, Feller just sweet talks them until we have private access, its better than gold$$$$$$

[ol' Feller]

heh, heh,...don't be tellin' my secrets KG.....
;)

[Shoal Tide]

awesome

[waderjon]

This is a great post Ol Feller..I had no idea this is how it was done.
I am done with that jar I got from you last time..Guess I need to come pay you a visit ;)

[blake]

Feller's honey, makes a nice present for River Access on some old farms. Honey works everytime, Feller just sweet talks them until we have private access, its better than gold$$$$$$ A well timed country ham works wonder too.

[deadeye]

If I was told I had to live on a desert island, and could bring 1 item, I would have Ol Feller write me a "How To" book on ~everything~. You sir, are a wealth of knowledge not only about bass fishing, but many other interesting topics!

Keep up the good posts!

[Bamaspot]

Interesting stuff!
I've been hooked on local honey for 25years.
I buy it by the gallon.
Nothing much better than honey on some hot scratch biscuits.

[Boyscout]

John, great post. I showed my daughter the pics of you capturing the swarm and she thought that was way cool.

I think its way cool too! It might even be "phat" if I knew exactly what that means.

[ol' Feller]

I'm glad some have liked my post on my little pointy-butt pals....
Honeybees are faciniating to me; there is so much design in a bee colony that it is mind-boggling...(and if there is design, there is a Design-er...!)




This is a great post Ol Feller..I had no idea this is how it was done.
I am done with that jar I got from you last time..Guess I need to come pay you a visit ;)
WJ, this part (managing the bees) is not too bad; ...now, getting the honey out of the hive and into a jar...boy that's a whole 'nuther deal! That part is all hot, heavy, hard, work!
And yes, we need to hook up again...I have your re-fill ready!;)
(I'm lookin' to catch my 1st shoalie this year BTW...hint, hint)


If I was told I had to live on a desert island, and could bring 1 item, I would have Ol Feller write me a "How To" book on ~everything~. You sir, are a wealth of knowledge not only about bass fishing, but many other interesting topics!

Thanks for the kind embellishment DE! ...I'm just a little weird, that's all.


My hunting partner keeps bees and he at least gets stung once every time he gets around them. Thanks for sharing... If you mess with bees at all, you will get stung...just part of it.
(...and it hurts like the dickens too!)

[AllRiversSouth]

Great Post John.... Cows in a box! thats awesome.

I have to say I was the lucky recipient of one of those Ol Feller Jars and it was awesome! One of my new favorites is now PB & H!:D

[robday1211]

So that's how your able to supplement your fishing habit !