A bear raided my one hive at Ellijay, GA last week.  Ellijay is about 80
mi N of Atlanta, GA in SE USA.  The hive was a modified Tanzanian top bar
hive, so there were no frames smashed.  The bear ate all of the honey and
brood, leaving only about a gallon of wax scraps.  A neighbor called to
tell me were the bees had clustered.
 
I went up, probably 3 days after the bear made the raid, and hived the
bear-generated swarm which I subsequently merged with another colony.
The bees had clustered on a small pine tree which made it easy to get to
them.   They had already started to build comb and deposit honey.  It was
cool, and the bees were a bit fussy, but everything went well.
 
What if didn't expect was this:  As the bees were crawling into the five-
frame nuc box I was using as the temporary hive, I noticed two hornets
that appeared to have been in the cluster.  These were what we commonly
call the "baldface hornet"...larger than a honeybee, black and white in
color pattern.
 
Have others of you out there in BEE-L land ever encountered other species
clustered with swarms??  It's the first time I've seen this.
 
I enjoy reading all of the commentaries on BEE-L.  I've gathered a lot of
useful information from you all.  Many thanks!
 
Cordially yours,
 
Jim
 
 
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|  James D.Satterfield   |  [log in to unmask]     or    |
|  P.O. Box 2243         |  [log in to unmask]                        |
|  Decatur, GA 30031 USA |  Telephone 404 378-8917  |
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