Swarm challenge

[bevy's honeybees]

I got home today from a 8 day vacation, which began with 3 days at Master Beekeeper program and Bee College in St Augustine Fla. I have bait hives in my back yard. Nothing. So I expected nothing at my other bait hives. I went out to my apiary where I have one bait hive and low and behold, bees have moved in. Not a large colony and I didn't want to poke around too much, they are in a deep box building comb on 2 foundationless frames and covering the 2 drawn frames I put in. Then I went to my son's where I have a nuk bait box on a ladder next to the garage, and they are moved in there. I could hear and see plenty of bees. I didn't take pics. I have 3 boxes in my back yard and I still have 2 more sites to place boxes.

Makes up for the colony I lost this spring. It is certainly spring in SW FL. I got some great teaching on africanized bees, as this is a big concern in my area. I am equipped to deal with that too. Bee college was fantastic, and I am now an "apprentice beekeeper" in the Master Beekeeping program.
Beverly

[odfrank]

Bevy pulls ahead with two catches. A week of rain here.

[Charlie B]

Congrats Bevy! The rain here is horrible

[Charlie B]

Problem was it started to RESEMBLE TV... Reality TV with lots of twists!

Let's not lose focus of who has challenged us to this swarm catching contest:

Ollie.jpg

Sir Jollie Ollie, he's the one to beat!

[odfrank]

Let's not loose focus of who has challenged us to this swarm catching contest

What have you been smoking? I didn't challenge anybody. I am a completely non competitive entity. I don't care if you can run a longer marathon, swim a wider river, have a better looking wife...I don't care. You are so threatened by my twelve frame Jumbo hives against your wimpy eight frame mediums and the swarm traps that I set a mile away from you that that you started this challenge. Bring it on... I just made another wine box trap this afternoon. Anyways, I caught MORE than 50, so there.

Here is post #1 of the original thread started by Charlie himself:
Are you willing to take the odfrank swarm catching challenge? Are you ready to go up against the Jolly Ollie? The notorious swarm catcher that terrorizes beginner beekeepers by surrounding their hives with hundreds of swarm lures and then lurks in the shadows only to watch their hives swarm right into his traps?

Can you beat odfranks 2011 record of capturing 50 swarms?
Breakout the lemongrass oil and old comb and let's kick odfranks butt this year. Keep a count of how many you catch and "report in" to this thread.
WE CAN DO IT!!! Vice President, San Francisco Beekeepers Associationwww.habitatforhoneybees.org

[Charlie B]

Ollie those are just little details that don't really matter. The point is just like in the old west, the fastest gun always get's challenged so let's just relax and try to be a little more positive.

[Gypsi]

[Intheswamp]

Wait a minute!!!!!!
IT'S SWARMS OF RATS THAT WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE CATCHIN'!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????? and

[odfrank]

I made two more winebox baithives and have developed a new method: embedded LGO. I place a pile of propolis and wax on the inside above the entrance hole, drip a few drops of LGO on it, and then melt it down with a heatgun chasing it around the inside of the entrance, embedding the LGO in the wax/propolis/wood mix.

[Charlie B]

That sounds like a great idea. I wonder if you did that on foundationless frames, like on the starter strip if that would work. I don't see why not.

[BayHighlandBees]

I think the rest of the country is going to pass the california beekeeper in this challenge. We've got another pretty solid week of rain ahead of us here in northern california!

[Gypsi]

I think all the bees in my part of Texas died of something again. Maybe another bad removal on the ferals - you know, take the bees, leave sevin dust behind in what appears to be a local Texas tradition. I've got no pollinators. Never mind bees checking my traps.

[BayHighlandBees]

I'm sure that whatever it was that got the ferals was Texas-sized!

I'd hate to see the size of the mites down in Texas, but im sure that Texas-sized bees can normally handle them!

I think all the bees in my part of Texas died of something again. Maybe another bad removal on the ferals - you know, take the bees, leave sevin dust behind in what appears to be a local Texas tradition. I've got no pollinators. Never mind bees checking my traps.

[Gypsi]

Probably about 6 foot 3 with a bag of sevin dust. .....

[Charlie B]

Buy Texans books, send them to school...

[Gypsi]

Great idea - but these guys graduated years ago - the ability to read on the 4th grade level wasn't required until about 1985. (I did NOT attend school in Texas.)

[BeeGhost]

I'd hate to see the size of the mites down in Texas, but im sure that Texas-sized bees can normally handle them!

You ever seen a crab trap before? In Texas they call them Varroa traps!

The bees in Texas dont gather nectar/pollen..........they just gather the flowers/trees.
The drones in Texas need to contact the air traffic control towers before taking off from the hive.
The queens in Texas lay big eggs.............how do you think packing peanuts are made?
The commercial/sideliner guys dont build bee boxes in Texas...........they build tract homes.
The use Texas bred bees stingers as lances for jousting.

[BayHighlandBees]

You ever seen a crab trap before? In Texas they call them Varroa traps!

The bees in Texas dont gather nectar/pollen..........they just gather the flowers/trees.
The drones in Texas need to contact the air traffic control towers before taking off from the hive.
The queens in Texas lay big eggs.............how do you think packing peanuts are made?
The commercial/sideliner guys dont build bee boxes in Texas...........they build tract homes.
The use Texas bred bees stingers as lances for jousting.

[Gypsi]

I'm so glad none of this is true.

However I expect to lose the swarm catching challenge rather badly. Most of the feral colonies I knew where were have died out over the winter, according to friends who live near them. Or bugged out. With the dearth in the summer and fall, and a warm winter using up too many stores but no pollen or nectar, I think they are gone. Just pulled my Hogan swarm trap. That colony either got robbed out after I opened the 3/4 inch drilled opening to mount the trap, or they died or moved out. Not a bee in the house (good for the homeowner) but not a bee in my trap either. And that one wouldn't have counted in the challenge.

[odfrank]

NOT TO BRAG...BUT... #2 today. Right next to # 1 which came on 3/8, might be an after swarm from the same hive, it is about 1/3 the size. First scouts came this morning, the weather was nothing special. And not from my hives 2 miles across the valley, checked them yesterday, 66% dead outs, the remaining ones still there nice. Two out of three of mine dead, four out of six of my buddy's dead. So we had the same percent loss, other than at the same site our hives are in no other way connected, except sharing the same extracting setup.