In a message dated 97-01-04 09:19:01 EST, [log in to unmask] (Donald V
Israel) writes:
 
<<The honey bees are  bringing in nectur and pollan from somewhere. It is
unseasonably warm  for this time of year. What does this do to the biological
clock there  has been so much talk about lately?>>
 
    I've found that (in South Carolina) November and December are pretty slow
months, and you can't stimulate the queen if you try.  By early January she
is already going, but you can't stimulate her much. By late in the month and
into February, she'll get turned on.  A natural flow (maple, canola, willow,
etc.) will get them brooded up.  I think the stimulation is caused by pollen
as well as nectar.  If the pollen is absent, they won't get stimulated much.
 
    From late January onward, we have to be cautious about management when
there are warm spells.  One thing that I've seen is bees brooded up too
early, and a sharp temperature drop makes them contract the cluster and outer
brood is chilled.  It really sets a hive back, and can even kill them, in
trying to deal with all the dead corpses.
 
    The other effect is increase in food consumption.  Bees don't eat much
where there is little brood, and death up to mid-January is usually not
starvation, but other factors causing weak hives (stored poisoned pollen,
poor queen, mites, etc.)
 
    Once they have a lot of brood they get real hungry.  The maple flow here
usually hits around the turn between Jan & Feb.  Then it is quite barren
until the end of March.  If the maple flow is good, I plan on a lot more
feeding, because the brooded-up bees will eat more.  The most powerful hives
are apt to starve in mid-March, when they outrun the meagre nectar supplies
they can find.
 
    This is one reason I like canola, which will yield for the entire late
winter, and freezes will not stop the flow.  Most other plants will stop
yielding if there is a freeze, at least until new buds open.
 
 << No one answered my request for info on how to round up honey bees from
 80 feet in a pine tree.(round up as in cattle not poison them). It
 haooened to me two times last year and I lost them. >>
 
    The problem is not unsolveable, but saving high swarms is not cost
effective.  I've decided that any swarm over 8 feet is not worth chasing.
 Falling off a ladder is not my cup-of-tea.  Being out of commission in the
spring would sink my business, as I've GOT to have the bees on the crops when
they bloom.  Funerals, including my own, are still not an acceptable excuse.
 
    Last spring an employee was determined to get a swarm in a sapling, about
15 feet up.  He's an agile, vigorous, young Mexican, and I could have stopped
him only by threatening to fire him.  So I held my breath as he climbed the
sapling.  Slowly it bowed over until the swarm was down to ground level, and
he was back with his feet on the ground.  We put a hive down and they were
starting to run in, but he couldn't hold the tree indefinitely.  When he let
go, the tree whipped back up, the surprised bees were mostly dropped on the
ground.  After a moments thought, they took off, en masse, and went up one of
those "80 foot" pines.  So much for that.
 
     Its a good idea to hive swarms at dusk, but we can't always come back
the necessary miles to catch one swarm, which may-or-may-not be still there.
 
    Swarm catchers can be purchased or made, using shop vacs.  But it is an
extra piece of equipment to haul around. -Not to speak of carrying the length
of pipe needed.
 
    Bait boxes, are another solution, but it's iffy.  The higher the boxes,
the better the catch rate.  You can also purchase pheromones to attract them,
but I've not tried this.
 
     The best bet is to not let the bees swarm.  Wild swarms are now quite
rare, and if I manage my own bees as they should be, these swarms should also
be rare.
 
     So I just wave goodbye to high swarms.  It's sad.  I wish I could tell
them that they are carrying the vampires that will build up and kill them.
 Without my care, they are doomed ---Dead bees that just don't know it yet.
 
    But they ignore what I tell them.  There's a sermon in there somewhere.
 
[log in to unmask]    Dave Green,  PO Box 1200,  Hemingway,  SC
29554        (Dave & Jan's Pollination Service,  Pot o'Gold Honey Co.)
 
Practical Pollination Home Page            Dave & Janice Green
http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html
 
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