On Tue, 31 Aug 2004, Bob Harrison wrote:

> Hello All,
> My partner asked me to ask about a bee problem he is dealing with. He is in
> dispute with a vineyard owner.
>
> The bee yard is *two miles* from the vineyard and fall honey plants are
> blooming so we wonder if the bees are really coming from his yard.
>

Well, the first question I always have when people claim that "bees"
are doing something, is whether they are actually honeybees or not.
Did your partner go and see the bees himself?  If he's just going
by the word of the vineyard owner, I'd say there are excellent odds
that the problem is really yellowjackets, which dearly love fruit
juice and are quite capable of perforating the skin of grapes.
The number of people I have seen "identify" yellowjackets as
being honeybees is nothing short of astounding.  They don't look much
like bees to me, but most people are pretty vague on what a bee looks
like.

If they actually *are* honeybees, could he spare the time to try
"beelining" a few of them to at least figure out what direction
they are coming from?

As far as the "putting out poisoned honey" threat by the vineyard
owner, isn't that highly illegal?

--
Tim Eisele
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