In the ‘Mailbox’ section of the July issue of Bee Culture magazine Richard Taylor writes a bit about Tom Seeley’s success in locating eight bee trees that were, Taylor says, “still thriving in the Fall”. He continues: “This Spring, in early May, before there had been any reports of swarming in this area, he checked and found six of these still flourishing.” In the September ‘Mailbox’ section of the magazine James Cowan from Aberdeen, Washington comments on Richard Taylor’s letter. (Mr. Cowan uses term ‘decoy’ hive instead of bait hive.) Part of his letter says: “In the last 35 or so years I’ve caught hundreds of swarms using decoys. Back in the pre-mite days, if I put out 10 decoys in April I would be guaranteed 10 swarms by the 4th of July. It was just that simple. Since the mite it’s been harder, but the last couple of years have been better.......It seems as if the swarms were smaller in size than I remembered and if I did get a big prime swarm in May they would cast a swarm in late June or July. I never had this happen before.” There do seem to be reports of feral hives returning. But are they truly thriving or just surviving? Regards, Dick Allen :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and other info --- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::