My family has been in the pollination business with honey bees for years. However, Indiana is not the best place to overwinter bees and with mites it is even worse. We are not interested in migrating and I have been wondering about switching (at least in part) to bumble bees. I know that they are good pollinators, but I am wondering if anyone has experience with how difficult it is to keep them. Also, how does one get started? I understand that purchasing them is rather expensive. Is it possible to trap feral hives of bumble bees? What sort of container does one keep them in? Are there any books or other sources of information about keeping bumble bees? Thanks to all who find time to answer. |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| | ! Ken Foster ! | | \|/ Dept of Ag. Econ. \|/ | | ! | 1145 Krannert Bldg. ! | | | \|/ |/\ Purdue University \|/ |/\| | ! | /\| West Lafayette, IN ! | /\| | | \|/ |/\ | 47907-1145 \|/ |/\ | | | | /\| ~^~ | /\| ~^~ | | |/\ | |/\ | | |/\| ~^~ Greetings from /\| ~^~ | | | the corn fields of Indiana! | | | ~^~ ~^~ | | | | Phone: (317) 494-1116 | | FAX: (317) 494-9176 | | e-mail: [log in to unmask] | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~