Vital Gaudreau said:
> What is the risk of contamination that someone takes by collecting a
> "swarm" from an unknown source?
Just to verify/clarify terms, an actual "swarm" would not be an established
colony. It would have little or no comb and negligible stores, making
the removal job much less taxing. One of the easy ways to differentiate
a "recent swarm" from an "established colony" is the amount and apparent
age (color, fragility) of the comb.
> Would you say chances are that it is 100% disease free or there
> is a high risk of contamination of your own apiary?
Well, I'd expect that a true swarm would have a better chance of being
relatively "disease and pest free" than a typical in-the-hive colony,
since a diseased or infested colony would be much less likely to
build up to swarming population strength. (Which, except for tracheal
mites, pokes a large logical hole in the oft-repeated claims about the
"natural spread" of diseases and pests via swarms. Admit it - beekeepers
move diseased and infested bees more often, in greater numbers, and over
longer distances than bees can swarm. Beekeepers also keep hives much
closer together than would ever be the case if the bees were selecting
their own hive locations.)
In contrast, long-established "feral" colonies present an interesting
question - how did they survive? Are they somehow naturally disease
and pest-resistant? (The "Holy Grail" of beekeeping in the 21st Century.)
The other side of the coin is that one could well have a colony site
that has been occupied by a series of temporary tenant colonies, each
surviving for only a short period.
I thought I had found such a "Holy Grail" colony until I climbed
up on the roof to sit and strategize, and discovered that the
structure from which I was removing bees was only a few hundred
yards from a backyard apiary. Upon examination (with the
participation of the apiary owner) it showed all the signs of
being a classic "swarm factory" - bottom brood chambers propolized
tight to bottom boards, indicating that reversing had not been done
(perhaps ever), lots of queen cell remnants, and two colonies with
sharply lower populations than the other two. Upon actual removal
of the rogue colony, there was lots of comb that was empty and
appeared to be disused. No idea why the wax moths had not done their
usual "clean up job".
Did I make him a gift of "his" bees? Heck no! I had to borrow a
bucket truck from the cable-TV company to get at that colony, and had
a heck of a time snapping the 8-foot long sections of vinyl siding off
the house single-handedly without breaking any. You try wearing safety
glasses under your veil and operating a Saws-All 30 feet in the air
sometime. You will also want the bees and the cash.
The third side of the coin...
(Three-sided coins? Sure - the Bermuda gold coins, which
ounce for ounce, beat the heck out of those tacky Kuggerands
on both style and investment value
http://www.bma.bm/bmawww.nsf/WebPages/1996TriangularCoin?OpenDocument )
...is that some colonies are just plain lucky, avoiding diseases and pests
by isolation or chance, only to show no signs of any magical "resistance"
after you remove them with care, give them a home, and watch over them.
In this scenario, one's own colonies are the source of diseases and pests
that infest and infect the otherwise disease and pest-free "rescued" colony
or swarm.
So, you play the hand you're dealt.
jim Who has found these gizmos to be well-made tools
for "Xtreme Bee Removal" from high structures
http://www.argear.com/gear/grpetzlascension.html
http://www.argear.com/gear/grharnesses.html
http://www.argear.com/gear/grsnapcyclops.html
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