Hello from Safrica

[Fanie]

Hello Everyone,

Just a post to say hello to everyone out there.  I'm a 'hobby' 'bee catcher' that doesn't hold bees.  We get so many swarms passing through here that I decided to catch them instead of letting others poison them.

My involvement started when a swarm of bees moved into my boat.  A sure sign that I don't go fishing nearly enough...
Last year I cought 3 swarms, and this year so far it seems the third swarm is currently moving in.

The bees I 'catch' I give to a bee farmer, he was generous enough to give me some old hives I position in the yard.

I find these little buggers fascinating and very interesting, so have lots of questions regarding them.  I hope some of the experts can put some light on some things for me, so thank you in advance for taking the time.  Ok I understand the bees being all female there probably is very few things carved in stone as I just dicovered, they seem to change their minds on a dime and go do things I didn't expect them to ;-)

For instance, the small swarm (or what was left of it after the owner tried to burn them out) I took out of a concrete water feature to relocated into a hive.  Two days later they moved to another empty hive 6m away.  Why ?

The two hives are both favourably situated in the shade, the only difference is the exit of the one they moved into now points North while the hive they moved out of looks West.

Does it matter which direction the hive entrance looks ?  I get the impression the hives that look either North or South are popular while those looking East or West are being ignored... ?

[FRAMEshift]

For instance, the small swarm (or what was left of it after the owner tried to burn them out) I took out of a concrete water feature to relocated into a hive.  Two days later they moved to another empty hive 6m away.  Why ?

The two hives are both favourably situated in the shade, the only difference is the exit of the one they moved into now points North while the hive they moved out of looks West.

Does it matter which direction the hive entrance looks ?  I get the impression the hives that look either North or South are popular while those looking East or West are being ignored... ?

Welcome Fanie.  :-D  Who knows why bees do some of the things they do.  If they had only been in your hive for 2 days, they were not really settled there.   We usually position hives facing south or southeast so they get morning sun to get them moving early in the day.  But I have never heard that the bees themselves choose a particular direction.  

[Fanie]

Hello FRAMEshift,

It seems once a swarm settled in it is quite difficult to get them to leave voluntarily.  When I 'settled' the small swarm in I took their already built pieces and melted them in position.  I did check after they moved out and they have built on to one of the wax pieces a little.

The theory was if they decided to stay they would have a flying start.  The wax is still in the box where I melted it into place, but they did move all the honey out.

The guy who tried to burn them out may have caused some smoke damage on the wax ? hence they decided the old pieces is to be discarded.  I think they would usually move the wax too if they decide to move.

Re the direction of the hive entrance.  I had two hives lookin North, one South and one east and one west.  The North and South ones are very polular, the East and West ones no activity.  It seemed like the direction was important to them.

Silly question, I don't know if it will work with bees like it does with cats - if you contain them for a while while feeding them will it make them more likely to stay... or will they just move any way ?

[FRAMEshift]

The Italian bees we raise do not take wax when they abscond, as far as I know.  They do take all the honey though. 

It is never a good idea to confine bees for more than one day.  They need to go out to drop waste outside the hive.  Confining them can result in an outbreak of nosema.

You can make the bees feel more "at home" by using lemon oil in the hive.  That's the scent that tells them they are where they should be.

[AllenF]

Just a few questions since I have heard from a S.African bee catcher.   Are your bees European or African?  And what type of hives do they use down there? 

[Fanie]

You can make the bees feel more "at home" by using lemon oil in the hive.  That's the scent that tells them they are where they should be.

Ah !  This is fantastic information.  It would be interesting to know if it has an effect on their moods as well, like having a calming effect ?

Are your bees European or African?  And what type of hives do they use down there? 

What do you mean 'down there' :-D  I think our bees are european, or was european once.  I seem to have read something like that a while back.  Western honey bee (Apis mellifera)

[Natalie]

Hi Fanie and Welcome to Beemaster!

[Fanie]

Thanks Natalie !

Well, my fourth swarm moved in day before yesterday.  I begin to feel like a bee collector 8-)

It seems the direction the entrance points to has a defenate effect on if a swarm will move into a hive.  I played with a few directions and it seems like they prefer it if the entrance looks North.  The east looking hives didn't get any attention, two days after I rotated the one hive to look North a swarm moved in. 

The last empty hive that looked west didn't get much attention, so yesterday I changed it to look North also and today there were quite a few bees 'investigating', so I'm looking foreward to collecting more swarms.

I'm actually surprised that there are so many swarms moving.  I missed three that I know of and got four so far this year.

[Fanie]

This is what our hives looks like.  This one has a super on it.  The wall brackets works excellent, we have lots of ants and this way it's easy to keep them out of the hives.  Just chalk around the bottom keeps the ants away, but I'm sure a smear of waterproof grease would do similar.  I also think the bees like the feel of the hive being in the air.  a small swarm moved into this hive.


Oh dear, I get the red text when trying to upload a picture 'due to excessive spamming bla bla bla'

Sorry, seem I cannot display the picture in this message.  It did upload though.

[hardwood]

Forward your pics to a moderator...they will post them for you.

Scott

Welcome by the way :)

[heaflaw]

You can make the bees feel more "at home" by using lemon oil in the hive.  That's the scent that tells them they are where they should be.

Ah !  This is fantastic information.  It would be interesting to know if it has an effect on their moods as well, like having a calming effect ?

It's Lemon GRASS oil-not lemon oil.  It's because lemon grass oil smells like the pheronome (odor) the queen emits.  In the US, you can buy it at health food stores.  Put a couple of drops in every few weeks.  You can also purchase lures for your bait hives from bee supply companies.  I've been told that the lures are actually just lemon grass oil.

Question:  how agressive are the bees in your area?  Africanized bees in the Americas are very agressive and they are a cross of European bees and bees brought to Brazil from South Africa years ago.