Bob Harrison <[log in to unmask]> 

>We still have not figured a way to replace the lost feral colonies. 


Hello Bob,

I once had a fear that ferals would have trouble recovering,,,
But from what I am seeing, I don’t think we need to worry about that one 
bit, it appears they will recover on their own, and with great force. 

I am happy to report that ferals seem plentiful in my area the last few 
seasons.  I am now accepting only FBC’s  (fun bee calls) OR HRC‘s  (high 
reward call$).  I have resurrected from cold storage my standard answer to 
the cheepo’s, that I buried away after the varroa 
crashes of 95-96,,,    “I don’t need the bees”. 

I’m going this weekend on a FBC to a turkey farm to investigate what I 
thought a humorous complaint that there are ‘too many feral colonies on 
her property‘, she’s claiming 3 bee trees, one in a large Locust tree in 
the immediate vicinity.  Last week, answered a HRC  to remove 2 mature 
colonies from the south side of an old farm house, and the past few years 
calls for bee removals are rapidly increasing (turning down many more than 
I'm taking).   I’m rechecking bee trees in in the sounding woodlands and 
finding a few being habited with bees again.  I'm seeing scouts testing 
and robbing, beelining back to the woodlands,,,
Seems, the good old days are coming back! 

Best Wishes, 

Joe Waggle ~ Derry, PA   
‘Bees Gone Wild Apiaries' 
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/HistoricalHoneybeeArticles
FeralBeeProject.com

******************************************************
* Full guidelines for BEE-L posting are at:          *
* http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm  *
******************************************************