Finding a Wild Bee Tree [22EP9]

[@michaelfike7542]

I like finding wild beehives you always have a supply of bees. I caught a swarm last year several miles from my home and alot of the bees were dark and this year I have seen several almost sold black drones. Great video and bee tree.❤🐝👍

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Thanks Michael!

[@rickriley7018]

How wonderful to see not only a swarm but to find the bee tree. I would be delighted!!!!! Rick in Pa.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

It was pretty cool Rick!

[@susanrowland8915]

Walking through our woods recently, I thought I smelled honey. But didn’t see anything … could you smell anything? Thanks for posting this, Nathan.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

I didn’t notice any smells. If you go back to that same spot on a warm sunny day at about 2 or 3 pm you should hear them if they’re there.

[@g.morris570]

@@DuckRiverHoney thank you for sharing this .. I will keep my ears open from now on when bee hunting..

[@Klaatu-ij9uz]

QUESTION -- How are the feral honey bees handling the Varroa mite onslaught??

[@MikeBarryBees]

Had a lady at the market few years back couple tables away from us that advertised her honey as ‘wild honey’. How is that? Did she cut the tree down? Always fun finding bees in the wild, at least I think so.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Hmmm, interesting. Maybe she meant “wildflower honey” but forgot the flower? 😂

[@theboonecountybeekeeper]

Another great video Nathan! Weather has been sloppy here in West Virginia but it is starting to turn around. Swarm season is finally turning on here.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Thanks!

[@nancynolton6079]

Can you tell if the entrance has a lot of propolis? If so, that would mean they'd been there a while. What a great find! A farmer down the road has an old walnut tree with bees. Opening is about 3 feet off the ground.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

The entrance is definitely propolized, but I wouldn’t say heavily.

[@strugglingbeekeepermarkcot9642]

Pretty cool stuff buddy. We had a wild hive on the neighbors property here for many years. It was cool just to go up there and watch them.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

I enjoy watching bees Mark, I often find myself doing that when I should be working bees 😉

[@birddawg1568]

I e had a wild hive in the back corner of my yard in a large red oak. I finally convinced someone from the local beekeeper association. He came out last Friday skeptical that I actually had a wild hive. While we were setting up a swarm trap & observing the hive, another swarm started up the hill from apparently another wild hive nearby that I have yet to find. Unfortunately the swarm came to rest about 75' up on a limb in another large oak. Needless to say it was an exciting afternoon.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

That’s fun, I bet the fellow left with a different attitude than he arrived.

[@stevefarms7494]

Last year I found a honey bees Hive in a beach tree and I found another one this year in the big ash tree there's a hive inside and I found one out side the tree .. in over 40 years I lived here I never found any bee tree .. the most I ever saw was over 6 years ago I will never forget and that's a swarm it looked like 50 ft wide and as long as 200 ft .. I no this because it flew over my barn and house I never saw anything like it...

[@DuckRiverHoney]

That’s awesome!

[@robertredbeard1855]

It's called a wild colony for a reason. No mystery to it if you keep up on actual bee research.

[@g.morris570]

Do you experiment with mite resistance? There was research on mite resistance in wild bees compared to managed bees. Such a wonderful find.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

I don’t experiment, but a lot of my stock is from feral swarms and I do see uncapping / recapping behavior.

[@BlanchardsBees]

🐝🐝🐝I also have a bee tree in my backyard ( technically my neighbors cow pasture) in an old cedar tree. I thought about trying to trap them out but decided to leave them. But now I'm worried about it being a mite bomb for my hives. Time will tell I suppose. Thanks for sharing👍

[@MinnesotaBeekeeper]

Sorry don't remember if I told you but last fall we found a hive tree 200 yards to my west. Took a 20 foot ladder and did an OA winter treatment, shoved in some sugar block and pollen patty. Got to find and upload that video.

[@BlanchardsBees]

@@MinnesotaBeekeeper I thought about dragging out the extension cords to do OAV on the tree as well but I guess I was feeling lazy lol. Would love to see the video

[@DuckRiverHoney]

That’s next level beekeeping…😂

[@etiennelavigueur2955]

may be a mite bomb ;) or may be a reserve of varroa resistant bee whose drone will pass resistant genetics ;) if it is a mide bomb, they will die pretty soon anyway

[@Reevestkd]

Beautiful stuff Nathan.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Thanks Ted!

[@HMallory1]

While watching the video a question entered the wooden nogging. Will you let them continue as a wild hive or will you use them as future bees for your colonies? If so, are you going to treat them for mites? As most beekeepers agree that mites are the demise of bee colonies. I read most comments but may have missed this, thanks and I really enjoy your videos and again thanks for your time.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

I’ll let them do their thing.

[@JustBePrePared]

That’s awesome. Thanks for sharing. How is the flow looking for you?

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Picking up, I’m waiting on black locust and then tulip poplar will hit. I figure by May 1 we’ll be into major flows.

[@JustBePrePared]

@@DuckRiverHoney Thanks. It looks about the same here. I’m seeing a lot of fresh nectar. Looks like blackberries in the next couple of weeks also.

[@30farms70]

I have carni-italian cross. They look alot like that.

[@shellbacksclub]

Bees should've been named Tiger Flies.

[@dcsblessedbees]

That's so cool, I hope to find bee tree near me as things worm up here in SW WA. I would love to be able absorb swarms from a good strong feral colony, but this is also my first year so different end of the beekeeping spectrum. :) Ty for sharing, Blessed Days...

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Thanks DC!

[@edkratt8341]

I had a hive swarm today the bees we about 50 yards and formed distinct clusters about 5 feet apart? I had never seen this happen where the swarm split to two clusters of bees. Two queens????

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Most likely two queens. Swarms are chaos in motion.

[@sirsymbro]

are you happy you know that wild hive is there?

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Yes, maybe I should have said that a time or two in the video…

[@lagrangebees]

Never seen feral bees here in Canada. But I know they can survive even those insane winters.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

It’s tough up north, especially with varroa weakening the colonies.

[@Peter_Gunn]

That's cool 4 sure. I can't believe they are that low to the ground.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

They have a preference for higher up, but they liked that spot well enough to move in.

[@lambbrookfarm4528]

That would be the one to watch Awesome

[@edkratt8341]

I had a hive swarm today the bees went about 20 yards and clustered on a low bush. I caught them. How far from the original hive should I move them ? I caught another swarm a couple of days ago and they went back to the original hive and swarmed again 2 days later. I caught them the second time and moved them about 5 miles away and they seem to be ok. I had bees about 7 years ago and never had any trouble moving them or getting swarms that I caught to move into a hive.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Move a swarm the same night you catch it or the next morning and I have no trouble moving them a short distance. Let them go a flight day though and the 3 feet per day or 3 miles rule applies.

[@SMButler]

Put up a few more traps and get you a feral strain.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

I started with feral bees. For the most part they’ve been good, but swarmy.

[@taylorboysoutdoors]

Thays pretty neat

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Thanks!

[@wadebarnes6720]

Maybe that's your start on the bees that you're looking for I have caught two wild swarms out of two different bee trees and the mother out of one it come down in a storm so I'm not going to bother them this Summer and see how they do if they live the summer in the winter I'm going to start making some Queens off of them

[@DuckRiverHoney]

I started by trapping feral swarms.

[@wadebarnes6720]

@@DuckRiverHoney I started off with a five frame nuke done it like every beginner trusted the man I was buying it from. They was good bees build up to a double deep really fast so I called him and asked him did he have any Queens like the one I got he said he had two so I went up there and got them and when I come back to split the double deep I found Queen cells so I left the queen in the box and made four nukes and then I went into winter and all of them lived and that's how I started

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Good deal Wade, I like local bees.

[@wadebarnes6720]

@@DuckRiverHoney yes I think I was lucky this year / last year I got a late swarm out of a tree then I got a swarm out of a tree February then we had a storm that blew the tree down lucky the man called me and I was able to save the mother have. I set up two of those boxes at my mom's which is about a mile from here the swarm from last year and the mother hive from this year going to see how they do with the mites with any luck and maybe found me some bees that I ain't got to treat I have some now it tolerate them pretty good I haven't had to use any really hard treatment only OA and I only do that if I find one with three mites or more and if I find one I just oa the whole yard only had to do it twice last year

[@shellbacksclub]

Do italian bees get nectar from plants like Oregano?

[@DuckRiverHoney]

No idea, I don’t have any oregano.