[fadder]

I was just reading on the forums here and someone mentioned feral bees . In reading ,it turns out that there were other bees around fairly close. Is it just me or is that not truly feral bees?
I know I have some swarms I have caught around here and they don't seem any different than my other bees. I have one hive however, that I caught in the mountains miles from anyone. These seem a smaller and slightly more aggressive than my regular Italians. The comb cells they make is also smaller.
I consider these feral bees even though I know that somewhere in the past they were probably someone's bees. I am thinking that they have been on their own so long that they would be considered feral bees. Your thoughts?

 

[AR1]

Feral means a domestic animal that has gone wild. Any honeybee in the US not in a human provided home is by definition feral. I got a swarm last year. It probably came from my neighbor's hive. I put it in a box so it isn't feral, but if it had gone into a tree it would be feral.

 

[fadder]

Actually the definition of feral I was talking about is "reverting back to a wild state". It takes some time for this to occur. A swarm going into a tree is still domesticated bees....just not in a man-made hive.
The ones I am talking about are the ones that have survived on their own .

 

[AR1]

Sorry, used to be an English teacher and still a bit pedantic. It's obvious what you were saying but my habit is to 'correct' things that really don't need correcting.

I don't know how you could identify true feral bees, meaning bees that had lived several or many generations without human intervention. Domestic bees vary so much in color, size, personality.

 

[fadder]

It's true about color and size. These are smaller and the comb they produce is very small cell. Also these were caught about 10 - 12 miles from houses or farms.

 

[Murdock]

I believe there re some feral bees in some back woods areas. If you could find the tree they probably will cast a swarm every year just because of needed space. Most wooded land has been logged { in my area} so the big, old trees with large cavities are mostly gone. Be aware of mite loads and if the cells/bees are smaller you might want to keep them on frames without foundation.

 

[fadder]

That's what I have been doing. I figure the small cells might help with mites, but who knows. I am still treating when needed.