# 30 year old hive with survivor bees. Breeding stock?



## praxis178 (Dec 26, 2012)

YES! Those are defs the survivor genes we want to keep!


----------



## Aerindel (Apr 14, 2012)

I'd buy a queen from that hive!


----------



## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

Are you sure Yours or someone elses didn't just move into a hive that hasn't had bees in it for 30 yrs?


----------



## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

They aren't the same bees. Over the years that space has been occupied by bees and vacant some years too. It's what happens to feral colonies. So, all you know for sure is that there have been bees in that wall from time to time over the last 30 years, producing the comb that you saw. But the bees have changed.

Keep them in your hive for a cpl years and you will know what their characteristics are. Maybe they have some good characteristics, maybe some less than desirable ones. I don't see what it would hurt to graft from it. But grafting on assumptions? I don't know.


----------



## AmericasBeekeeper (Jan 24, 2010)

They are free bees. That is always a good price.
Tom Seeley did some great research with feral colonies. You should read his book "Honeybee Democracy" You wll find that they are probably less than a year old.


----------



## tefer2 (Sep 13, 2009)

We have several bee trees around us that we monitor throughout the year. The majority have zero bees left in them after our long cold winter.
Come spring time, they always have new bees that have moved in.
This event always seems to happen about the time all the new beekeepers around us get their bees. I think true feral hives are rare nowadays with the mites and shb.


----------



## bwisniewski (Jun 25, 2012)

Yeah I know they were a new set of bees as there was very little honey(all open with a little in some). They were not my bees as mine were first year packages and were all in their hives. It was a good amount of bees that we captured and we assumed it was split from the other nest about 10 feet away on the other corner of the garage. There are no other bee keepers for at least 5 miles around and probably more which is why we think they are from the original bees 30 years ago. Im going to try my hand in making some queens. Any recommendations for first time queen rearing? I mean which is a good simple way for a first timer? Should I make a bunch of nucs of the hive and have each make their own? 
thanks
Ben


----------



## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

not saying it couldn't happen, but I would bet a dollar to a horse turd that someone has bees within 5 miles, my neighbor 2 doors down has had bees for a few yrs and I never knew it untill he saw my hive waiting for my new package and mentiond that he kept bees as well.


----------



## bwisniewski (Jun 25, 2012)

true that. Not many know that I have bees.  Ben


----------



## iivydriff (Apr 20, 2011)

Here in Arkansas we have to register our hives. Ive lived here all my life and didnt think there was a hive within miles. When I filled out the form and sent it to the state other beekeepers with 3 miles are notified. I found out there were bees. Ive found two trees around my area that had old colonies in them. One was on my place before I got into the bees again. They died in the winter and then the next spring they were all dead but then a year later there were bees in there again. In feral hives when some die out, it wont be long until bees will move in there.


----------

