# Bees hanging out on outside of Log hive, waggle dancing



## RcRuss (Dec 31, 2012)

Love that hive. Wish I had the skill to make one like that. Looks way better then any of the other "garden" hives with the copper or slate tops.


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## KMP (Feb 21, 2013)

Solarbeez said:


> I'd like to complete my next log hive and try to 'tang' them into it.


Is that the same thing as drumming? (See video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJDOLxvHr2s

-Kevin


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## Lazer128 (Dec 15, 2012)

I love the wood spirit hive! Great work!


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## gmcharlie (May 9, 2009)

Solarbeez said:


> It was an unusually warm day today. I went out to the garden to dump some coffee grounds and noticed my log hive partially covered with bees. Grabbed my camera and videoed a bunch of bees waggle dancing on the outside of the hive. I'm hoping they're not ready to swarm yet. I'd like to complete my next log hive and try to 'tang' them into it.
> There is a close up of a 'fanner bee' possibly getting fed by another bee...not sure if that's what happens, but it looked like it.
> http://solarbeez.com/2013/03/29/a-face-mask-on-bee-beard-log-hive/


Well first of the waggle dance could be a swarm dance, or just a here is food dance. If it was done on the surface of the cluster and not teh landing boards or frames i would say its a swarm dance.

Second, as far as i know that hive is not legal.... I know as cute as it is my inspector would destroy it....


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## Solarbeez (Apr 20, 2012)

KMP said:


> Is that the same thing as drumming? (See video)
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJDOLxvHr2s
> 
> -Kevin


"Tanging" is different...supposedly you can shorten the distance the swarm travels as well as keep it closer to the ground if you bang on a pan (perhaps rhythmically) when the swarm is in progress. I only learned about this last week when talking to the owner of a Mexican restaurant. He saw my log hive partially completed and told me that when he was a kid, it was his job to bring back the swarm. He'd bang on a noise maker while he followed the swarm. He said it'd work 90% of the time. They wouldn't get very far and form closer to the ground.

I tried tanging yesterday when the bees did swarm, I'm assuming from the log hive. I was spectacularly unsuccessful. The swarm landed about 50 feet up in a tall fir tree, hung there for about 1/2 hour and vanished. I'm not sure where they went, possibly back in the hive, but I don't see them outside the hive anymore.

Here's a true believer in the tanging process... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok7SiHgzp04


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

I bet That hive is about to swarm.


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## Solarbeez (Apr 20, 2012)

gmcharlie said:


> Well first of the waggle dance could be a swarm dance, or just a here is food dance. If it was done on the surface of the cluster and not teh landing boards or frames i would say its a swarm dance.
> 
> Second, as far as i know that hive is not legal.... I know as cute as it is my inspector would destroy it....


Well, you were right about the waggle dance being a swarm dance. They swarmed yesterday. I didn't see them actually emerge from the log hive, but I'm assuming they did.

I know some states don't like log hives, but I find it difficult to think an inspector would actually destroy it. Do they destroy the trees where bees are living? These bees came from a feral bee hive in a tree. i hung a bait hive on the tree...10 days later they are bringing in pollen into the bait hive. I didn't want a bee package because those bees are not acclimated to our normally very wet climate.

My goal in having a log hive was to try to provide the most natural place for the bees to survive without too much human intervention...no feeding, no miticides, no antibiotics, no honey harvesting. I would grow as many bee-loving flowers as possible to provide some poison-free habitat nearby. If they survived the winter and threw a swarm, I'd consider it a success. (A person could argue that observing the bees is a kind of human intervention...yes, I'm guilty there, and I also added a little winter protection)


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## gmcharlie (May 9, 2009)

Sorry you missed it FYI if it had been a removable frame type you could have manged to stop them. Personaly It matters not to me how you keep bees.! just don't point it out to the inspector.... I tend to think most would ignore it... but I know at least 2 that would remove it by destroying it.


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## Solarbeez (Apr 20, 2012)

It's been a very busy couple of weeks. The log hive threw 6 swarms that we know about. The first and last got away, but I was able to put the other ones in various boxes including one that I hung in a tree. http://solarbeez.com/2013/04/25/a-tree-hive/
I know these are probably all cast swarms, but what the heck...the weather is good for the next week to 10 days, maybe we'll get lucky.

The hive I'm really proud of is my newly carved log hive. The carving and preparation of Bee-atrice log hive can be seen here.
http://solarbeez.com/2013/04/27/bee-atrice-the-carving/
http://solarbeez.com/2013/04/27/preparing-bee-atrice-log-hive-for-prime-time/
I'll have Bee-atrice in all her glory finished photos by tomorrow...I hope.


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## Solarbeez (Apr 20, 2012)

Bee-atrice log hive is looking good. She 'came to life' exactly a week ago tonight, from a cast swarm off my other log hive (Bee Beard). She started pulling in pollen yesterday. I didn't add any foundation. I want this log hive to be as natural as my other one. No feeding, meds, or miticides.
She's taken on her own personality already.
http://solarbeez.com/2013/04/28/meet-bee-atrice-a-female-companion-to-bee-beard/
I thought I had read that if you see pollen going into the hive, that meant there was a laying queen. My wife says she read that's not the case. They will bring in pollen whether there's a queen or not...anyone know for certain?
Thanks,
Pat


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