# Strange dark bees at my watering hole



## Tenbears (May 15, 2012)

beautiful! I have a few hives of bees that look exactly like that. The queens are black from head to tail and shine we call them onyx queens.. they are very docile too.


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## BeeBop (Apr 23, 2015)

Tenbears said:


> I have a few hives of bees that look exactly like that. The queens are black from head to tail and shine we call them onyx queens.. they are very docile too.


Cool! I see a few of them in the blackberries and they show up to get a drink at my waterer. They always fly off to the north. They're ferals living out in the hills somewhere near here. 
I'd love to catch a swarm of them!


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

Humm, maybe you can set up a swarm trap to get a swarm. 
Or just make your own carnis queens to get some dark genetics from their drones.


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## springersports (May 9, 2015)

....sorry to butt in....what is a swarm trap?


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

Oh, butt in all you want. This thread is almost expired anyway.
What I meant was to set up a trap to get the swarm. But being so far away it is hard
to get one. So the idea is to get a swarm trap with syrup in it to lure the dark bees in.
After they tell their friends then the trap can deploy to get all their buddies. Then re-hive these
bees in a nuc over an existing hive. After a few days they will be released. Now you will have some
dark bees working for your Italian hive. A neat trick that I learn while reading on bee-lining.


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