two questons from a firstimer

[Hivehead]

Really new to beekeeping and even newer to this forum.
just got a colony from a sprinkler control box buried flush with the ground last night.  Hope I got the queen.  There was drawn comb in the cavity.  I live in a southern calif tract house (postage stamp backyard).  I'm wondering the odds of having captured an africanized colony (I think pretty good).   The other question is what were those bees up to when they poured out of the hive and maded a columny 20 - 25 feet high and 10 to 12 feet in diameter roughly over the hive and went back in the hive after 20 minutes or so?  Just taking a look around, see if there's a view?  I hope they don't do that every day in the early afternoon or my hope of keeping this a quiet backyard deal isn't going to work....john

[JP]

I pmed you back on this John in case you haven't checked but anyway... You should take some samples and send them to a bee lab to have them checked asap for ahb.

What you describe is a little vague, could have been a mating flight, a failed swarm attempt or an orientating flight.


Get them tested.


...JP

[Hivehead]

Thanks for the reply.  what kind of specifics do you need for the "plume" phenomenon or however you spell that big word (not plume)....thanx

[JP]

Thanks for the reply.  what kind of specifics do you need for the "plume" phenomenon or however you spell that big word (not plume)....thanx

??? :?


...JP

[Moonshae]

Thanks for the reply.  what kind of specifics do you need for the "plume" phenomenon or however you spell that big word (not plume)....thanx

I don't think you can describe it any differently; there's no way to tell exactly what it was. JP gave you two possible options.

The biggest issue is to get them tested to make sure they aren't AHB.

[Michael Bush]

>Really new to beekeeping and even newer to this forum.
just got a colony from a sprinkler control box buried flush with the ground last night... I'm wondering the odds of having captured an africanized colony (I think pretty good).

Since AHB seem to prefer such locations, I agree.

>  The other question is what were those bees up to when they poured out of the hive and maded a columny 20 - 25 feet high and 10 to 12 feet in diameter roughly over the hive and went back in the hive after 20 minutes or so?  Just taking a look around, see if there's a view?

Sounds like a mating flight.

>The biggest issue is to get them tested to make sure they aren't AHB.

If they are mean and they are EHB, I'd requeen them immediately.  If they are nice and they are AHB, I'd keep them.  Seems to me the issue is their temperament, not their pedigree.