I went to pick some avocados the other day and found a swam in the tree. I shook them into a box and was a happy camper. There was a blade of comb in the center of the cluster. Is it normal for a swarm to build comb while clustered in a tree?:scratch:
I haven't seen a full fledged comb with an active swarm, but I have seen where they have started to draw out cells on a spa and on branches, I guess if the swarm is in the same place long enough it feels the need to get things started.
I was under the impression that they normally would not build comb while outside a structure but that Africanized Honey Bees would. We don't yet have AHB here in South Carolina.
I've heard the same thing. However, I collected two swarms last year (2012) that had started comb on the branches in upper east TN. We don't have AHB. -js
Saw one here in Il last year 100ft up a pine, they had 5 combs and a thriving hive. It was a drought year for us and they did fine. Someone finally cut them down in early august.
We have seen some like that here. We wondered if the swarm got caught out by bad weather and stayed there long enough to stop looking for another spot......?
If bees of a certain age have are gorged with honey (which bees do in preparation to swarm) and have no where to put it, they will begin to secrete wax as it is metabolized.
Bees being bees, if the swarm's scouts take a while to find a new hive space, they put that wax to constructive use.
If you look closely at the surface a swarms was on, you will often find little white flecks of wax attached to it.
We get external hives in trees quite often here in Louisiana. I noticed that if a swarm around here stays in one place for more than a couple days they start building comb. Makes for a real easy cut out. I will be removing an external hive from an oak tree in the next couple of weeks. Ill try to get pics of it as they really are a sight to see.
I found 2 last year. One in a blueberry bush the size of a softball, the other (the one in the photo) 40 ft up in an oak tree. I guess the scouts never found a suitable home and the swarm setup housekeeping.
Ken,
Click on the insert image link, then click basic uploader, click choose file, click (or double click) on your pic, then click upload file.
Try it.
we found an external hive in 1975 in a sweetgum bush, not tree . the hive was between a basketball and a beachball in size. they had enclosed the comb with wax much like a hornets nest. the only thing keeping the sweetgum from breaking over were several rattan vines hooked to other trees for support. we cut a hive off of an oak limb this past summer that had 6 pcs of comb and was about 12 " by 14" in size.
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