# Found wild colony high up in a tree



## COAL REAPER (Jun 24, 2014)

paging mr hogan...
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but in the meantime, dont light your tree on fire.


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## Eikel (Mar 12, 2014)

Why do you want to drive them out and as they say "kill the goose that lays the golden egg?" I have feral hives around me that give me swarms every year.


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## ABK (May 9, 2016)

Good point, but how do I know it swarms every year? Is it generally accepted that wild colonies do? What if that 28" DBH maple has 200 liters of open space inside it and they won't need to move out for years?


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

Why don't you just leave them alone? There's plenty of other bees out there to keep you occupied.


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## Eikel (Mar 12, 2014)

You don't know that they swarm every year but swarming is a basic instinct and the odds are there are other feral colonies around. Set out a few bait hives and see what you catch; if you catch a swarm make sure you get another bait hive in the same place. I have a sycamore tree that is a swarm magnet, sure wish I could figure out what makes it so special but I'll go with what it gives me. One thing about using the bait hives, they sure beat hauling your tail 30 feet in the air for $100-150 worth of bees.


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## ABK (May 9, 2016)

What may be a magnet is an intersection of multiple ley lines. I read somewhere recently that bee trees happen to be found on intersections of ley lines.

As far as leaving the bees alone.. maybe. I'm just impatient. Haven't gotten my nucs picked up yet this season, and haven't gotten any swarms. The only bees I'm seeing are in this tree that is right near my property.


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## Eikel (Mar 12, 2014)

Dr Sneely points out a number of preferred attributes for a bait hive too, this tree has some and missing others but I wish I could figure out and bottle whatever it has.

I just mentioned my personal approach to feral hives that don't "have" to be removed but if you do decide to climb the tree and God forbid something does go awry, you might as well try to fly.


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## COAL REAPER (Jun 24, 2014)

its early for your area to be seeing any swarms yet. but very soon they will happen. beekeeping will force you to learn to be patient. dont mess with the parent colony in that tree. if you do manage to drive them from the tree there is no way to "make" them do anything. set up a swarm trap or two nearby baited with LGO. observe and learn. you have a valuable asset in front of you that could be most beneficial to a greenhorn beekeeper. if you got time to kill grab some binos or a spotting scope and watch them. note colors of pollen coming and research what is currently blooming. see drones. try to figure out the difference between orientation flights and robbing and pre-storm excitement. i know i wish i could stumble on a tree like that...


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

Honestly, it's not even worth the risk of messing with them that high up.


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## FlowerPlanter (Aug 3, 2011)

You have a gold mine "feral bees"; you just don't know what to do with it.

Put swarm traps in all direction from 50 to 100 yards.


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## Galaxie (May 13, 2015)

ABK said:


> What may be a magnet is an intersection of multiple ley lines. I read somewhere recently that bee trees happen to be found on intersections of ley lines.


Just so you're aware, the concept of ley lines is pseudoscience. It was made up by an amateur archaeologist in the 20's and revived in the 60's as new age nonsense.


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## ABK (May 9, 2016)

Seems like the consensus is not to touch it, and instead capitalize on getting free swarms out of it every year. OK, sounds good to me. So far I have a deep hive hanging a few feet away from their hole, as well as 3 more empty hives about 100 yards away. Don't know what the likelihood of a swarm adopting an empty hive close to the ground as a new home is. 

As long as I or anyone else doesn't touch this tree, I guess there will always be bees in it. They really did choose an ideal site for a home. It's really high up, and there's only one entrance, so it can be well protected. And that one entrance is a very sturdy hole, so not even a bear can rip it open. I guess even if a colony died in it or otherwise disappeared for whatever causes, the old comb in there would serve as an attractant for future swarms, correct?


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## ABK (May 9, 2016)

Galaxie said:


> Just so you're aware, the concept of ley lines is pseudoscience. It was made up by an amateur archaeologist in the 20's and revived in the 60's as new age nonsense.


I understand this is something that hasn't been proven, but there is some compelling information out on it. The particular article I read explained that bees, like people, can detect electromagnetic waves and they use them for navigation (that's how they can come back to the hive I guess?). Anyway, same as how dowsing for water is still practiced effectively today, so can be dowsing for ley lines. Ley lines, as I understand, are imaginary lines connecting man-made features on earth. These features were built on electromagnetic lines, so these are the lines that you would be detecting, if you were so crazily-inclined! 

Anyway, I'd like to have a try at it. There are a lot of forum threads discussing these, especially in Europe. If bees can sense electromagnetic waves and thrive on where hives sit on top of them, then we can map them and predict good spots for our hives/traps. 

People who know where these lines are on their properties have noticed trends on how well a hive does and even the orientation of comb building as oriented in reference to these lines.


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

Earth to ABK. Earth to ABK. Do you copy?

If you do, I have two coat hangers and I am available for hire to come show you, using Ley lines, EXACTLY where you should put your hives on a given property. I require only airfare, ground transportation, two nights in a hotel, $100 per diem, and $275/hour.


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## ABK (May 9, 2016)

I copy, loud and clear.

Since you don't believe in dowsing for ley lines, do you also not believe in dowsing for water using apple tree trigs or metal wire or whatever else they use?


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

ABK said:


> I copy, loud and clear.
> 
> Since you don't believe in dowsing for ley lines, do you also not believe in dowsing for water using apple tree trigs or metal wire or whatever else they use?


I've got all kinds of twigs, sticks, wires... all you need to do is buy me the ticket and pay the fee. I'll find you water, Ley lines, gold painted rocks whatever you need.


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## ABK (May 9, 2016)

Ok, I've gotten my answer for the bee tree question. I'll raise the question of ley lines in a separate thread, where hopefully only those who have something constructive to add will participate.


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## Galaxie (May 13, 2015)

ABK said:


> I copy, loud and clear.
> 
> Since you don't believe in dowsing for ley lines, do you also not believe in dowsing for water using apple tree trigs or metal wire or whatever else they use?


It's not a question of belief, it's a question of evidence...or rather the _lack_ of evidence


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## ABK (May 9, 2016)

It wasn't my intention to start an argument of whether ley lines exist or not. I just wanted to hear from those who do believe, or "have seen evidence". 

Billions of people believe in all kinds of oddballs religions and gods, and there is no evidence of that either. Talk about opening a can of worms, amirite?!

At least electromagnetic lines can be easily checked for. You can disprove it to yourself. You might not be sensitive enough to them to be able to find them, but your neighbor is. Does that mean they don't exist or the whole practice is fake? Oil companies still hire dowsers today. They're all nutjobs though, right?


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

ABK said:


> Ok, I've gotten my answer for the bee tree question. I'll raise the question of ley lines in a separate thread, where hopefully only those who have something constructive to add will participate.


Please do, but I think what you mean is that you only want people who agree with your moonbat theories to contribute.

Evidenced as follows:


ABK said:


> I just wanted to hear from those who do believe, or "have seen evidence".


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## jadebees (May 9, 2013)

My ex-wife could dowse. Really.

If I try to do it, nothing happens. Pendulums, metal wires, sticks, all refuse to budge even a little.

Dowsing is not due to "sensitivity to electronagnetic fields". I can feel the digital pulse monitor at the doctor. I can feel a microwave or TV 's field 6 feet away. I gather static, or momentarily dim lights touching the switch.Yes, thats un- common. I'm in the 2% that can feel magnetic fields.

Even rarer is real Ley Lines, vortexes, bigfoot and aliens. 
I catch many bees, and never think of lines of energy in the earth. I suspect bees do not, either

3 billion people carry phones with cameras. So, where's the alien pictures? Sneaky aliens!


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## ABK (May 9, 2016)

Thanks Obama!


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## AHudd (Mar 5, 2015)

jadebees said:


> My ex-wife could dowse. Really.
> 
> If I try to do it, nothing happens. Pendulums, metal wires, sticks, all refuse to budge even a little.
> 
> Dowsing is not due to "sensitivity to electro(nag)netic fields".


It is also funny how the mind works. In the first line you mention your ex-wife, then look how the word is spelled that I added the parenthesis to. 

I don't know if bees use electromagnetic fields to travel, but I know some people have a better sense of direction than others. I got turned around one day looking for a bee tree. I went into the woods before dawn. It got cloudy before the sun came up and when it did nothing looked familiar. I had never been lost before. I sat there for quite a while until the sky got brighter, then all of a sudden I knew where I was again. I have a cousin who can get lost in her back yard. I found the bees a few days later in the side of a hill.

Alex


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## AHudd (Mar 5, 2015)

ABK said:


> Ley lines, as I understand, are imaginary lines connecting man-made features on earth.


Did you mean "imaginary" lines as you wrote or "invisible" lines? If you meant imaginary. I agree.
I remember reading somewhere that honeybees can't see red, but they can see ultra violet light. Maybe....

Alex


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## ABK (May 9, 2016)

I'm not an expert on the subject, so I can only infer stuff from what little I've read about it. The whole thing can be considered imaginary until proven by science. By imaginary, I meant the lines are imaginary, because these are just lines you would draw between places.


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## sakhoney (Apr 3, 2016)

At least electromagnetic lines can be easily checked for. You can disprove it to yourself. You might not be sensitive enough to them to be able to find them, but your neighbor is. Does that mean they don't exist or the whole practice is fake? Oil companies still hire dowsers today. They're all nutjobs though, right

What a crock on the oil co. hiring dowsers - I have over 40 years drilling and am currently parked on a rig in Argentina right now - The dowsers we hire are called 3 D seismic crews and they come with more than a couple of sticks - That's why I also keep bees - give me something to do instead of running the bars on days off


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## ABK (May 9, 2016)

I wonder if anyone with the technology to test for electromagnetic waves has tried to correlate it with feral bee colonies.

Just because you haven't seen dowsers in the companies you worked for doesn't mean others don't utilize them. Common sense right? And that's not even considering the other countries in other continents that may know more about the topic. I'm not convinced myself and have yet to test any of this, but it's funny how people are willing to believe in God, a person who magically hears everyone talking to him at the same time, yet physics is Looney talk.


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## sakhoney (Apr 3, 2016)

well seeing's I have worked all over the world - and even stood by while some co.'s cut the throat of a goat and poured the blood down the hole/dung a hole on location and through in offerings to the god's/ Etc - I have just about seen it all. I have been there and done that. Oil co.'s as stated hire special crews that bounce sound waves off of formations to see where to drill. No offence but my bull**** meter is ringing.


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## ABK (May 9, 2016)

So is mine, interestingly enough.


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## tanksbees (Jun 16, 2014)

One of the guys from the water company carries dowsing rods around as a joke, he showed up with them to find a water pipe that was leaking and started digging where they cross.

I was amazed, he found the pipe right way, but it turns out he had a map and just thinks it is amusing to mess with people.


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

I know I will get crap on FB from Jacob about this LOL ...... but I can and have dowsed...... Now whether or not I believe it does any good for beekeeping......well the jury is still out. As part of my job I actually teach line locating ( with electro magnetic locators ) in class we briefly discuss dowsing, and even though I have traced many things with dowsing rods that my line locator wouldn't pic up and then verified with a probe rod....but I honestly don't know why it works..... the only thing I can say about it is that it won't stand up in court that is for sure.


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## Eikel (Mar 12, 2014)

Yeah dowsing is like ghosts, you believe there's something there or you don't. Like Harley, I can and have dowsed but mainly to find voids in the ground; water lines, sewer lines, storm drains, etc. Some for water sources but never sought to develop it beyond that. How to apply it to bees, oil or whatever will take the jury awhile to deliberate.


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## Daniel Y (Sep 12, 2011)

One question I have about dowsing is that the technique looks the same regardless of what the person is looking for. So how do the rods know just what you are searching for. I have seen it claimed for use in finding Water, Gold, Oil, Lay Lines, Magnetic lines. And I am sure in the past I have heard of many more I simply do not recall them at the moment. I would also be interested in seeing what the frequency of say a successful well without dosing as in comparison to with it. that a well can be dug and strike water has a certain percentage of success without any more technique than saying "This looks like a good spot". I have suspicions of any method that may or may not work. guessing may or may not work also. Show me a higher than random rate f success and then I have some reason to think dowsing has some level of influence on improving a choice. What I am looking for is a certainty of choice. Such as finding the right spot every time sort of thing. Of course that may simply be as unrealistic to some as Dowsing seems to me.


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## AHudd (Mar 5, 2015)

I have a 100% success rate dowsing for beer. In fact, I don't even need rods. 

Alex


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## Galaxie (May 13, 2015)

Daniel Y said:


> One question I have about dowsing is that the technique looks the same regardless of what the person is looking for. So how do the rods know just what you are searching for. I have seen it claimed for use in finding Water, Gold, Oil, Lay Lines, Magnetic lines. And I am sure in the past I have heard of many more I simply do not recall them at the moment. I would also be interested in seeing what the frequency of say a successful well without dosing as in comparison to with it. that a well can be dug and strike water has a certain percentage of success without any more technique than saying "This looks like a good spot". I have suspicions of any method that may or may not work. guessing may or may not work also. Show me a higher than random rate f success and then I have some reason to think dowsing has some level of influence on improving a choice. What I am looking for is a certainty of choice. Such as finding the right spot every time sort of thing. Of course that may simply be as unrealistic to some as Dowsing seems to me.


Daniel,
You may find this article interesting: http://skepdic.com/dowsing.html especially the section titled "Does dowsing work?"
Short version: dowsing has the same success rate as random chance, rendering it useless.


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## ABK (May 9, 2016)

I think the fault with the tests they've done in the past where they lay out a series of water pipes hidden under a floor and only a single pipe has water going through it, is that locating water and dowsing for natural water springs/areas of groundwater closer to the surface isn't the same. The latter being correlated to stronger "signals" of magnetism or whatever it is, and the former being just water.


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## Galaxie (May 13, 2015)

You're forgetting that the dowsers agreed to that method of testing beforehand and were genuinely surprised that they failed. There's a video of one of the tests on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqoYrSd94kA Results are at about 32:15.

ETA: Also, with the test in the video, beforehand they turned on the first pipe and asked the dowsers to make sure they could detect it. Sure enough their sticks or rods detected it every time. To their shock, however, when the trial started they could only detect the correct pipe 12% of the time.


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## ABK (May 9, 2016)

That the dowsers agreed to this test and failed it is nothing surprising to me. They do not need to have an understanding of how what they do works. If Hillbilly Bob picks up 2 coat hangers and notices that he can find groundwater close to the surface everywhere the rods spin, he's gonna use this newfound skill. He doesn't need to be a rocket scientist to use it and know that it works. He may very well be convinced that what he has is a water-locating gift from Jaysus Christ himself. With that, he would be happy to agree to do the test because he thinks he'll be able to locate the water pipe every single time.

What also remains a fact is that dowsers find water/oil/ whatever else.

Lastly, everyone's going to "detect" a feature that they are looking for. This is because the mind is biased towards it.

I'd love to quit my job and get paid to run scientific experiments on the topic, but nobody seems to want to sponsor these kinds of feats. So I'm left with just hypothesizing on its possible feasibility.


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## AHudd (Mar 5, 2015)

ABK said:


> If Hillbilly Bob picks up


I resemble that remark. 

Alex


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