Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: Miss Bob on May 13, 2010, 03:49:33 PM

Title: What to do?
Post by: Miss Bob on May 13, 2010, 03:49:33 PM
I know nothing about bees and I was just handed a blob of dirt that I was told has a queen honey bee and babies in it.
Is there anything I can to do for them?
Title: Re: What to do?
Post by: marksmith on May 13, 2010, 03:50:23 PM
If its in a blob of dirt.... I'd seriously suspect that it is honeybees.
Title: Re: What to do?
Post by: Keith13 on May 13, 2010, 04:14:43 PM
Can you maybe give a little more detail so we can assist you better. I'm not sure what you mean by a blob of dirt

Keith
Title: Re: What to do?
Post by: Miss Bob on May 13, 2010, 04:22:07 PM
A friend was digging out an old flower box and found what he says is a queen bee and babies? There are little bees crawling around and supposedly larva(?) in the dirt blob he brought me.


Got a cow calving, be right back (I hope)
Title: Re: What to do?
Post by: Miss Bob on May 13, 2010, 04:52:07 PM
So, I put the blob of dirt in a box?
Is there any chance they will survive and make colony or is a waste of time?
Title: Re: What to do?
Post by: D Coates on May 13, 2010, 05:00:43 PM
Not honey bees.  Those are some other type of bees, possibly bumble.
Title: Re: What to do?
Post by: Miss Bob on May 13, 2010, 05:23:50 PM
D Coates is right!
(Put on my good glasses and went to Google)
So, still need to know what to do with them, any ideas?

While I am here, 1 more question?
Our warm spring seemed to bring the real honey bees out before the flowers. They were all over the cracked corn I put out for my birds? For future reference, is this OK or is there something else I could or should have put out for them?
Title: Re: What to do?
Post by: Bee Happy on May 13, 2010, 07:21:44 PM
I've seen the cracked corn question answered somewhere else. They get into that stuff when they're desperate for a protein source, they'll start collecting downright useless stuff by that point. maybe a feral colony without enough stores? Our cedars pollinate just at the end of the off-season - may not be great stuff for them, but at least they get a little real pollen before the oaks pollinate and the flow gets going. If you want to feed the bees a pollen substitute would do the trick. The objective though, is for the bees to adapt/evolve their collection, storing, and feeding habits to match the area they live in.