Finding Wild Honey Bees

Bee hunting with Dr Thomas Seeley and Megan Denver.
For more information on bee hunting, check out Tom's new book Following the Wild Bees by Princeton University Press. Here's a link to order the book: press.princeton.edu/titles/106...
For more information about Tom's upcoming talks check out beehunting.com

[@BlxxdLeaf]

For a little bit I had no clue what you were getting at, but that was a genius way to find honeybees...

[@FrederickDunn]

Such an excellent example of Bee Lining :) Dr. Seeley has always been so generous with his time and knowledge. Thank you for sharing, you have a new subscriber for sure! I wish you all the best in beekeeping!

[@eugenecbell]

I am a beekeeper and have read a lot about bee tree hunting. I have often thought about how I could improve my stocks genetics with 'wild' survivor bee DNA. Now I have some practical tools to try to collect some bees with. Thank you for this fascinating and motivating video. I will build some equipment, locate some wild bees and try to trap their swarms in the spring.

[@markbozarth-dreher974]

I built a box for my father in law based off of the box you use in this video. We can’t wait to use it in a few months!

[@greggmacklin4222]

This Spring (2021) a hive moved into a large stump next to our driveway. We had no idea it was had a large cavity in it. We are now in a dearth, so, I feed them sugar water. They are a gentle hive even in cloudy drizzly weather.

[@kckrye]

My nephew and I have found wild bee trees by listening, by smell and also by watching them leave in a direction from a food source. We have grown our apiary by catching those swarms and removing hive from homes. Gotta love the honey bee!!!

[@srebrenkabogovic2415]

Excellent. Congratulation. Very well prepared and your calming voice is perfect.

[@MegaDavyk]

Its a Hell of a job but someones got to do it and Tom is the right man for the job.

[@SeventhSamurai72]

Wonderfully calming, really enjoy the post, thank you for all the time you put in to sharing this.

[@kwildhunter3037]

I'm come from Korea .thanks for a sharing your technology .have a good day today .

[@dfazen89]

I was under the impression that bees typically fly very far from the hive and then only begin gathering on their way back to ensure they get a full haul. I think it was a Cody's lab video lol

[@lawsonst3v3]

Wow, what great information. Thanks for posting it!

[@HiDave0016]

How freaking clever is that.. so simple but so smart.. hats off to you!!! I'm going to try this.. I know there's a hive near by, the workers swarm my humming bird feeder every year.. I always wanted to try and find the hive, see how big it is. Probablay a dead tree like you found, we have lots of them around. If I find it I'll send pictures.. thank you for the video!

[@saracarnicom5318]

I just finished reading this book and now I'm super excited to try my first bee hunt! Got a bee box and just waiting on my anise extract to get here now. :)

[@JGsgarage_unboxings]

Did you ever get to go on your hunt? I am thinking about doing it this year

[@alishagangwer716]

Any updates?

[@charlieandpattisplace]

Thank Megan. Loved the work you did on the video. It would be cool to find a wild tree here in Northern Wi too! Keep hunting!

[@debbeecorcoran3104]

Nice Megan. Looks like fun, even better with Tom Seeley by your side!

[@shantilus]

Thank you thank you! What a great video!

[@MatthewCMcMillan]

This is delightful

[@Peter-od7op]

Great work ty.

[@billiamc1969]

Awesome video...

[@mecraig6291]

Appreciate the video. Very interesting.

[@jeffreyrumpf6841]

We need more feral honeybee trees! Thanks for the video.

[@L0j1k]

Megan Denver is smokin'!

[@smokeydabeecharlescoleman8365]

i'll start looking soon

[@ParkersAntics]

Super cool!

[@villarrealdc]

Very interesting video. There's always bees around the parks here filling themselves up from someone's spilled sugary drinks. I might just go out there with a little paint and observe. So a five minute round trip would approximate a quarter mile (or less) distance to the hive?

[@riphaven]

would love to hear the story this bee has to tell the queen when she gets back to the hive.

[@nairuFR3]

thank you for this video I really want to find a nest with some honey.

[@luke9ash7]

That's pretty neat!

[@danaapril1127]

Love your video I've always wanted to be a bee keeper but afraid of killing them.

[@janefarrington4611]

We need more bees

[@OmerFriedman]

What is the formula for time as it relates to distance? I'd imagine there is a static component to it (time it takes for the arriving bee to deposit their nectar and then leave), regardless of distance.

[@beeornottobee4507]

Great video. Hi from Belarus bee's forests! I have a question about the color of hives. Some hives are the natural wood color and some are painted white. Is there and advantage to painting a have white?

[@Spoofkill]

What the hell!!!! That was awesome!

[@VictorFursov]

THANK YOU! VERY FUNNY.

[@montyrackley612]

I’m in the BraziIian foot hills.Tried this method I got bees going in every direction, they even seem to fight each other at times. I believe I must be in the middle of several hives. Any advice on tracking their fights my eyesight isn’t what it used to be.

[@simon-8424]

That's pretty neat

[@aaronabner4317]

What happens if the three bees are actually from three separate hives? Won't this complicate determining where the hive is located? Just wondering....

[@michaelgilbert7851]

informative !

[@stephpalma]

Tom Seeley says: The surviving bees evolved to be smaller, suggesting these bees might require less time to develop. Since the mites infest nursery cells in hives, the shorter development time may allow young bees to develop into adulthood before the mites can finish their development. Mite-resistant honeybees in Africa are also small and have short development times, Seeley said. -- so what Ed and Dee Lusby always claimed that small cell bees is a requirement for Varroa and disease resistance is true: resistantbees.com/blog/?page_id=3569

[@skylerdrabing4323]

That sounds like sacrificing the strength of the bee to prevent a predator. Not sure I'd be on board with that. Honeybees in Africa are also rather crap.

[@BillLozano]

Makes me want to go hunting for a bee tree.

[@hudsonvalleybeesupply]

+Bill Lozano ...from a kayak.

[@BillLozano]

+Megan Denver It would be fun from a kayak

[@historyhunter5215]

Bill Lozano lets go

[@RFDarter]

did you ever try that in germany or do you know of someone how did?

[@wendywillard1834]

Can you use this technique for hornets?

[@joychandrasinghshamjetshab9420]

How to remove honey bee from electric pole hole with queen

[@mikeries8549]

There is a down side to this stuff. Once it gets out that you're hunting for bee trees a long list of people wanting you to do tree removal in exchange for you getting some "free bees" gets written. They tend to get angry if you laugh and say, "no no no...you pay me to take the bees and the tree is your problem". There's a guy near here that charges $1500 (by contract) for removals so I usually refer calls to him. Want a list of people that have bee trees? Yeah...I got one.

[@Mongriph]

whats the song used in the end, on the guitar. im dying to know

[@multivitamin486]

Maybe you already found it, but if not, its An$wer - Sperb

[@tvideo1189]

In my area you would be slapping yellow jackets off yourself, the stand, the food and the chair in about 3 minutes.

[@PopleBackyardFarm]

thumbs up

[@Barbara-jk5ni]

Hi, where can I get one of your bee boxes from? Or where can I get the measurements to make my own. thank you

[@hudsonvalleybeesupply]

www.hudsonvalleybeesupply.com/bee-hunting-box-black-walnut/ or the dimensions are in the book Following the Wild Bees

[@thesciguylittle]

Very nice video! Could someone set up a bait hive near the wild colony, in hopes of getting "successful-genetics bees"?

[@christianadams8554]

Brian, I know this response is 5 months after you were originally expecting one lol, but yeah you can set up swarm traps near wild colonies. Seeley actually details this in one of his books, "The Lives of Bees," though they had to hang the traps high up in the air to keep bears out...

[@demonlust75]

There’s bees near my house. I’m just not sure where exactly

[@amirhussainchouhan9090]

it's very difficult procedure

[@shahiazeez1089]

Hi

[@drewber47]

I think his favorite color is orange.

[@travisk5589]

I have some bees at my feeder. It is taking them just under 3 minutes from leaving the feeder and back. I assume that they are very close. Anyone know how far? I am in a tight packed neighborhood

[@steventaylor4326]

About 250 yards.

[@travisk5589]

@@steventaylor4326 I found where they were coming from. Less than 100 yards. My neighbors house lol

[@azkamadu9754]

mantap

[@ZevHoover]

so why are they trying to find these wild hives?

[@kevinbyrne4538]

Finding the hive can simply be a game. However, traditionally people would take some of the honey and comb (for wax). Occasionally they might take the entire colony (if their own hives had died). Instead of taking the whole colony, one can wait until spring and capture swarms as they leave such wild colonies (because a new queen is seeking a new home of her own). Beekeepers often want to capture wild swarms in order to add genetic variety to their existing hives (improving their resistance to diseases, parasites, etc.).

[@ZevHoover]

Kevin Byrne thanks. I guess these people are just doing it for fun.

[@davesmith9844]

...I bet the comb confused the bumble bee!

[@HakiOlluri]

😮.

[@oussamadelenda8149]

There is another easy method than this. Catch one thoes bees try to attach a thin colored lead on it and track the bee the coloney.

[@jamescraig8601]

Why is your volume so low

[@MrAdrianaangel]

And in about ten years he should have caught enuf to start a hive.

[@FloryJohann]

Just a remake from the other video that I seen 1 year ago. Could had at least shown a different tree or area.

[@hudsonvalleybeesupply]

J & B Homeliving this isn’t a remake. This is the original. Tom later reshot the video with a crew from Cornell.

[@ResidentEvilBiohazard]

Is this not stealing from a wild hive?

[@hudsonvalleybeesupply]

+DC E Thank you for your concern. We don't ever take the bees from the tree. We often set up a hive near by so when they swarm they might use our hive for their new home.

[@ResidentEvilBiohazard]

+Megan Denver Oh. that's cool.

[@MrGamerman001]

+DC E Is that illegal or something?

[@ResidentEvilBiohazard]

+MrGamerman001 well. i was initially under the impression that he was intending to keep the bees.

[@chemtrailwatcher1184]

T00much Chemtrails in Sky

[@prologodesigns3381]

Let s hunt some people in little wood box wit glass...Man, that bees wass going somewhere and come from some place...

[@maureenbachmann1858]

Why don't you leave them wild?

[@noelleQB]

Those bees belong to beekeepers.

[@PopsShack]

Technically, there are no wild honey bees in the Americas; they're feral.

[@hudsonvalleybeesupply]

+Pop's Shack Thank you for comment I checked with Tom and because honey bees have never been truly domesticated, it would be inappropriate to use the word feral, which denotes a domesticated animal that is living without human supervision. So, "wild" seems to be the appropriate word to refer to honey bee colonies living on their own.

[@PopsShack]

+Megan Denver Foxes are an introduced species here, they've never been domesticated but we call them feral, not wild.

[@Maxander2001]

+Pop's Shack Who are "we"? The scientific community?

[@PopsShack]

Maxander2001 The government. The people.

[@Maxander2001]

Pop's Shack Hopefully the government listens to scientific experts. The people say the darndest things. "Some people say" should not be a reference for anyone but Fox News, I hope.

[@diemuenchnerin]

You really leave them unharmed? Then it's ok for me. I was shockend when read BEEHUNTING. Pls let the bees live the life THWY want to live.

[@Kaizmirkhan]

first of all there is nothing like Bee Hunting on the tile of the video are you dumb or blind

[@sharkdogs25longappendage24]

Megan is hot.

[@ThomasShue]

same tree as his first video where he trys to sell you his book. It's easy to find a tree with bees that he already found. booo

[@hudsonvalleybeesupply]

Thomas we didn't start this video thinking we would find a bee tree. This is authentic and I'm sorry you think it's not.

[@ThomasShue]

Megan Denver He made. video when he was by himself and he found the same exact tree. then he does it again with you a d finds the same exact tree. should I find the link for you

[@sigilvii]

Are you referring to the video from Nov 18, 2016? kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y5emqKKQrLWcotE I agree with you Thomas Shue, it is the same tree. But that video was published *after* this one. He went out and made a demonstration video which was rehearsed. It's a better video. I don't think it makes much difference whether or not he knew the tree was already there in the video I linked. He's demonstrating an effective method and using a known bee tree so he can show the entire process.