The Hunt is On

[Jim Ray]

Hello everyone.

Today at work, foraging honey bees discovered the coke can crusher container outside my office building. The temperature was upper 50s/low 60s and they showed up from somewhere for the remaining drops of soft drink sugar. At any one time there was 12 -15 foragers, but they were in a constant stream of coming and going. Being the Wildlife Biologist for the facility (Department of Energy) I was able to take the time to watch them for a while and figured out what direction they were coming from.

Let's back up a bit. Last summer we had a swarm, but it disappeared before a beekeeper could get it off site. In the meantime I got interested in bees and have two packages ordered that should arrive during April. I'd like to track down the hive and see if I might be able to have an experienced beekeeper help me catch the hive and move it to my house.

Our facility is isolated from farmsteads, towns, etc., but bees could be in our buildings, valve boxes, etc. I searched an area for about an hour but couldn't intersect the bees past about 100 feet from our building. I will search again next week, but does anyone know any tricks for finding them.
I've thought about taking a sugar water feeder and, first of all, getting them some food better than Coca-cola, but also perhaps keeping them fed until I can locate them. Maybe even moving it further and further in the direction they are coming from in hopes of finally seeing where they are going. What do you think?

If this is the swarm from last fall, I'm not sure they could have built up much of a surplus. They might be low on stores.

[deknow]

...you can dust or paint them as they leave the feeding area, and then time how long it takes for dusted/painted bees to show up. there is some "formula" involving how fast the bees fly, and how long it takes to unload at the hive.

from donovan's "hunting wild bees":
1/4mile 5.2min
1/2mile 7.3min
3/4mile 9.5min
1mile 11.6min
for times greater than 11.6min, add 1/4mile for every 2.2min

deknow

[standman]

Jim, You might do a search on Bee lining. It really is pretty straight forward, and with the proper equipment, I don't think if would take too long to track down the hive. Now, if the bees are coming from multiple hives, you could get some conflicting info. Let me know if you need more info.

[Jim Ray]

That's cool, guys. I'll look into these techniques. I'm reading a book, and just read the "lining" stuff just tonight.

[dcross]

Put a food source a good distance away(1/4 mile or so), get a second line and wherever they intersect should be the hive. I've heard some gps units have a function that can pinpoint it. (project waypoint?)

[tecumseh]

if you have experience tracking wildlife with radio collars and obtaining a couple of points of reference with an antenna and then establishing intersecting point to establish just where 'the animal' might be then you pretty much know what bee lining is all about. one of those hand held line of sight compass used by hunters (I use to use one to determine where old fence line would run) would be useful. you have alread established that the residue from the coke cans works just fine for bait.

the complexity added to this simple system is you may have more than one feral colony to deal with...

good luck...

[Jim Ray]

Again, thanks.

Yes. Am radio tracking prairie rattlesnakes, Texas horned lizards and bobcats right now. http://www.amarillo.com/stories/100608/new_news1.shtml

We don't use triangulation with these studies, but have used that on deer in the past.

[swamprat]

i rember a long time ago on tv they showed a little wood box about the size of a small match box used long time ago.they would catch a bee wove it soom distence let it go .chatch anouther bee move in the outher direction and let go and do the triangulation thing to locate the beehives.

Dwayne.S

vernon N.Y
2 hives

[Jim Ray]

Dwayne,
There is a description of that technique in a book I'm reading. Kind of interesting. You can use sugar water in the box and the released bees actually come back to, so you you have several chances to figure out the direction as they come and go.

[dcross]

http://www.bee-quick.com/500/index.html

:)

[Jim Ray]

You rock, dcross!:applause:

[Axtmann]

Catch a bee and glue a small cut from a down chicken feather on her back than let her fly home. She is slower than normal and you can follow her to the nest.

[dcross]

You rock, dcross!:applause:

No, I just spend way too much time on the internet reading about bees. Well, ok, maybe a little:) Do a search here and on bee-L for jim fischer's posts, he's big into bee-lining and put up the site I posted a link to.

[swamprat]

this is intresting. im always trying to follow the bees but my eye site isnt that good. Jim what is this book you are reading

[Jim Ray]

I FOUND THEM! They were right on the line about 500 feet out, in a valve box. Beautiful white comb hanging down. A bee keeper co-worker and I are going to try to get them here in few weeks. They are pretty docile.

Swamprat, the book is Keeping Bees by John Vivian.

[swamprat]

congrats. jim.ill have to look for that book.keep us posted on the retrevel.

[Jim Ray]

Thanks. I will post on the retrieval.