DaveHamilton <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >Joe >I would like to know more about the Feral Bee Project. Hi Dave, The purpose of the Feral Bee Project is to organize a group of beekeepers who have a common interest in sustainable beekeeping and wish to encourage the highest degree of locally adapted genetics in their honeybee colonies. Members discuss methods of how to trap feral honeybees, assessing swarms, bee removals and all other related topics. And also to provide a forum where sales of feral queens or trades may take place. I know of a home >that has a huge comb in a wall, how do I know those are feral bees and that >the population isn't dying off and being repopulated by swarms? This can be difficult to accurately age a colony, but I look at the debris in the void and at the comb. In the wild, wax worm and other scavengers will live off the debris at the bottom of the void and will immediately move up and begin to destroy comb that is not protected. In very large nest structures, even if the void is reinhabited quickly by a swarm, you will still see evidence of waxworm damage due to the swarm not able to protect comb towards the bottom nest structure. Sagging or misshaped cells can be a sign that may suggest the nest was not habited for a time. So very large nest structures that have black comb, bee cocoon build up, and no evidence of wax worm damage or wax moth cocoons on the sidewalls, debris or comb would be suggestive of continual habitation for 4 or more years. If a feral colony had an abundance of new comb and evidence of waxworm damage, it would be suggestive of a colony of bees that recently inhabited a void that was previously occupied. In some cases, interviewing the homeowner can provide clues to the age of the colony, but I am usually skeptical of the homeowner clams and weigh it against the evidence found in the void. But on one particular occasion, I interviewed a elderly woman that had bees in a farmhouse. She knew an impressive amount about bees, just from watching the bee activity outside her house. This lady had such a keen memory, she was able to tell me the years the colony swarmed and the years the colony thru 2 swarms. She continued to describe years when the bees seemed louder in the walls during winter, made her dog bark and spring cleansing flights ect. This colony is the one pictured on the front page of the feral bee project. Using this information provided by the homeowner and by looking at the evidence in the void, there was sufficient evidence to suggest this colony was living in the wall from 1995 (surviving the varroa, and the crashes of 95-96) till 2002 when I removed it. I don't age colonies as a determination of resistance anymore, unless it happens to be a very large nest structure with black comb, these massive feral colonies 4 or more years old are a gold mine for supurb genetic materal!!!! I am actually focusing on collecting ferals from specific areas, such as the remote woodlands, rather than ‘aging colonies‘. It seems from assessing ferals from many different areas and different ages over several years. I have found that the emphasis on where the genetics are caught, rather than how old the colony may be, is a better predictor of what quality of bee you will get. Interesting also are the breeding populations that exist in these micro habitats. Remote woodland ferals for example will be found during assessments to have certain traits more pronounced than ferals found in the low land farm areas. Best Wishes, Joe Waggle Ecologicalbeekeeping.com ‘Bees Gone Wild Apiaries' Feral Bee Project: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FeralBeeProject/ -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l for rules, FAQ and other info ---