The Wally-Gee Bee Journey 🐝

[WallyG74]

So you're hoping to catch a wild swarm of buzz bois?

That’s the plan. My friend, Walt, bought bees 3 years in a row and they died every year. He learned how to catch them and has been quite successful since then.

 

[ColtHandorf]

That’s the plan. My friend, Walt, bought bees 3 years in a row and they died every year. He learned how to catch them and has been quite successful since then.

Does he find the temperament of wild bees to differ from captive-raised bees?

 

[WallyG74]

Does he find the temperament of wild bees to differ from captive-raised bees?

We have never really discussed that. That’s a really good question, though. I know there’s a wild hive in the wall of a building at my sister’s place. They lit her up when she got close, but that may have been due to a particular stage of that hive. I’m still learning. This is nothing like chickens for sure!

 

[ColtHandorf]

We had a wild hive in a dead tree when I was growing up. It was hollowed out, and they used an entrance near the ground and up high. I think my dad had someone come and collect them.

I've always found bees to be interesting. I remember watching a documentary on Africanized bees that was appropriately horrifying.

 

[WallyG74]

We had a wild hive in a dead tree when I was growing up. It was hollowed out, and they used an entrance near the ground and up high. I think my dad had someone come and collect them.

I've always found bees to be interesting. I remember watching a documentary on Africanized bees that was appropriately horrifying.

I need to read up on the Africanized bees. They must be like Moony. Kind of a big deal…

 

[ColtHandorf]

I need to read up on the Africanized bees. They must be like Moony. Kind of a big deal…

I don't remember the name of the documentary, but I remember that they tried to create a Bee Belt across a portion of South America using European honey bees in hopes that the Africans would be incorporated into the European hives as pheromones from European queens modified the behavior. Ultimately the project was too ambitious, and a belt wasn't completed before the Africans expanded past it. Furthermore, African queens hatch something like 48 hours faster than European queens, so in hives where eggs of both were present, the African queens hatched first, killed the European queens, and through their pheromones modified the behavior of the European bees to behave like Africanized ones.

 

[azurbanclucker]

Hey Wally,

Dunno if this is already linked in your thread, but BYH has a section specifically on beekeeping

https://www.backyardherds.com/forums/#bees-beekeeping.88

If you haven't checked it out, might be worth it.

 

[tripletfeb]

I don't remember the name of the documentary, but I remember that they tried to create a Bee Belt across a portion of South America using European honey bees in hopes that the Africans would be incorporated into the European hives as pheromones from European queens modified the behavior. Ultimately the project was too ambitious, and a belt wasn't completed before the Africans expanded past it. Furthermore, African queens hatch something like 48 hours faster than European queens, so in hives where eggs of both were present, the African queens hatched first, killed the European queens, and through their pheromones modified the behavior of the European bees to behave like Africanized ones.

You remember all that but not the name of the documentary?

 

[ColtHandorf]

You remember all that but not the name of the documentary?

Yes. I'm not sure I can find it through Google, but I'll see what I can do...

I haven't found a thing the whole time.

 

[ColtHandorf]

Still can't find anything. There was a brief mention of plans to try and stop them near the Isthmus of Panama, but due to morphological and genetic differences between the Africanized hybrids and the European queens, even if the plan had been fully executed it most likely would not have worked.