Was checking out my vineyard and getting ready to spray for beetles. I could hear some buzzing. Check this out. There is a wild bee hive in a cherry tree on my driveway about 50 yards away. It's been there for years. They must have just swarmed. I called everyone I could think of and no one knows a local bee keeper. Oh well, probably be better to leave them wild anyway. Glad I checked before spraying.

The bees are cool but I am jealous of your grapes.

Thanks, on the fermentor's forum page, I have pics from the start of this vineyard until present day. It's the third year. Lots of ups and downs, but all in all, it's doing well. That reminds me, I'll have to update that thread.

They would be really easy to catch if you had a nuke. Just slip it under them and give the vine a shake. Wish I had a nuke. I would grab them and sell them. I think they go for around $300 these days?

Thank you for saving the bees. My favourite insect-honeybees. They will take good care of your lovely grapes and all else.

Did ya have an onion in your pocket?

Yup, Nothing wrong with honey bees. They are needed.

Finster:
Did you try PSU Extension in your county?
They usually have a list of people who are looking for bees.
Hope you find some one to take them.
My best!
pick65

Good idea. I tried them, but the office closed at 4:30.

Hope they ain't Africanized. My grapes are going gangbusters too, too bad they're not table grapes. I bought a vine for a $1 on the mark down rack and stuck it in the dirt, and it seems to be doing OK. I bought it for wildlife feed.

Not a chance of africanized that far north. Africanized is the the subspecies native to Sub-Saharan Africa, a tropical subspecies. They lack the adaptations needed to overwinter in temperate climates. They have stalled out their northward spread in the desert southwest and Central Florida. They've been in Florida for going on two decades now and have only been found in Georgia twice in that time. Even our mild winters are to much for them.

I saw a program on one of those Sat AM Animal shows, that said they are becoming adapted to the colder climes, and slowly heading north.

Yea, these bees are very calm. You can walk right up to them, and they just ignore you. Not like yellow jackets or anything. These will crawl on you and never even bite if you let them.

As they do, they become more docile from breeding with our bees. That's one of the things that get them farther North.

Not in the genotype that got them here. They spread throughout South and Central America maintaining a high degree of genetic integrity due to both being more adapted to those climates and having behavioral traits that out competed more docile European subspecies.

If adaptations occur it will be with genetics gained from crossing with European stock and by that point they will be more European than African.

BTW, there's no rule that pure africanized have to stay mean. Puerta Rico is fully africanized yet the bees there are reported to be much calmer.

charlie sykes might take them. he's not far from you.

Charlie Sykes
186

As I understand it: Bee's are pretty much all docile, unless they have a hive to defend, then your on your own!

They are still there as of 7:42 Pm. I gave Charlie a call and left a voicemail. I think you should delete his personal info from your post

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