hi y'all,
 
i've posted a cupla emails about my advertising for swarm removal.  in the
last two weeks, i've caught 3 colonies, one a swarm in a bush, the other
two in someone's house or garage.  the garage deal actually has another
colony elsewhere in the garage to be removed, which will bring me up to 7
colonies.  i also have two others to go get just as soon as time permits,
both in roofs of houses.  and someone gave me 3 totally unattended hives that
he had in his backyard for 2+ years with no management.  all of the above
appear healthy, no sign of varroa so far, altho i need to do a much closer
inspection when they all settle into their new homes.
 
my point is thus:  we all lost colonies last winter. i lost the two hives
i kept.  buying replacement bees is costly, and you have no assurance that
what you'll get will be any better than what you lost.  the bees i've been
getting from the homeowners lately have all been in their roofs for over
3 years.  i can't imagine these to be less than healthy, or that they have
been un-exposed to varroa et al.  so, since we're all looking for that magic
pill, the disease resistant bee, why aren't we all out doing something
similar to what i've done - catch the wild ones, and see if we get better
results by next spring?  i'm very optimistic that i'll have at least one
colony survive, and that they would exhibit some disease resistance.
 
put an ad in the local trader under miscellaneous - where the folks buy and
sell their junk - it's always read thoroughly.  mine read that i'd remove
the bees for free.  free does the trick.  no one wants to pay.  i had someone
ask me point blank how much, and when i said "not a penny"  he said "please
come over as soon as you want to remove them"  so an hour or two of my time
yields a colony worth $30 - 40.
 
incidently, the swarm in the bush that i caught went in textbook fashion.
slide a box underneath, give the branch a sharp crack, they all drop in,
put the lid on and go.  total time was about 10 minutes.  amazing.  and a
whale of a lot of fun.  the homeowner was so appreciative, and when i left
my name and number, i know he'll call if bees ever come his way again.  good
relations with the populance plus a lot of education to them.
 
one last item.  i gave my name to the local pest control people.  they've
had me out to a home for a removal.  no cost to anyone, and the pest guy
was glad he didn't have to deal with the bees.  result was a nice 3 year
old colony, plus lotsa comb and brood.
 
consider doing this if you can.  it's a lot of fun, costs very little and
i hope we can get some resistant bees from the deal.
 
frustrating at times, fun at others.  beekeeping is a great hobby!
 
Thanks,    (\        /)
          {|||8-   -8|||}
John       (/        \)
in Santa Cruz, California