# wild bees versus domestic bees?



## ron (Apr 28, 2008)

I just bought my first hive body and had planned on ordering domestic bees because they are supposed to be more productive but i have an opportunity to use wild bees native to my area. Can anyone tell me which would be better? I have read that domesticated bees can produce 50 to a 100 gallons a hive per a season? Are ferrell bees as productive?


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## Brent Bean (Jun 30, 2005)

There isn’t any difference, all honeybees are wild, humans have never domesticated honeybees. We only manage them. They build there nest the same in a tree or the wall of a house or a langstroth hive. They fly where they want to, unless you inseminate your queens she breeds with what ever drones are in the area. 
The reason managed hives produce more honey is because the beekeeper takes advantage of their hording instinct and provides additional supers for them. Verses a limited volume in a tree cavity. 
If you find a tree with bees in it, it was more than likely a swarm from someone’s bee hives.


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## bejay (Jan 14, 2005)

they are probably just a swarm from another bee keeper and really are not going to probably be much different than what you would buy.
an established hive in a good flow could produce 100 plus lbs of honey or even more wich is only like around 8 gallons


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## Ruben (Feb 11, 2006)

Ferel bees are proven survivors for your area and can be better. They can be a little meaner as well in my experience vs Italians but they cost nothing most of the time. Go with either one an you will be ok


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## Gene Weitzel (Dec 6, 2005)

I have removed more than 120lbs of honey with a feral hive on several occasions. It is mostly a matter of how much space they have to store it in.


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## djuniorfan8 (Jun 15, 2004)

*wild bees?*

How do you know if your bees are "Wild"? They could just be a swarm from another beekeeper in the area. I've caught many a swarm and have yet to be able to determine if they came from a hive box or a tree stump. Unless the queens marked of coarse.


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## Gene Weitzel (Dec 6, 2005)

djuniorfan8 said:


> How do you know if your bees are "Wild"? They could just be a swarm from another beekeeper in the area. I've caught many a swarm and have yet to be able to determine if they came from a hive box or a tree stump. Unless the queens marked of coarse.


If the bees have mostly desirable behavior traits then it is a pretty good bet that they are not far removed from someones managed hive. When they start showing traits like being runny and flighty then chances are good that you have gotten a hold of some bees that have been on their own for awhile.


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## Sarge (Jun 26, 2006)

Can't talk for where you are but around here true ferals, bees from long term unmanaged hives, are darker than common "kept" bees.


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## sentientsoil (Apr 20, 2008)

Sarge, where in Indiana are you living? I'm in the Goshen area, and when I finally get my first hive (guess I'll be around FtWayne then, since we're trying to sell the house right now) I'm hoping to capture swarms. So you're saying we still have traces of the old german black bees that were the first wave of apis-immigrants?


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## ron (Apr 28, 2008)

thank you all for the good information. the wild bees in question are living in a wall of a cabin. the cabin belongs to a hunting club and they have offered to let me have the bees for free if i remove them. the trick is i may have to dismantle part of their building. would it be worth the effort? especially for a novice such as myself who has no experience removing bees from stru:ctures. if i do so i may find myself repairing a cabin. I was thinking of buying Italian bees. any more information would be very helpful. 

thanks for all of the info


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## naturebee (Dec 25, 2004)

ron said:


> I have read that domesticated bees can produce 50 to a 100 gallons a hive per a season?
> 
> 
> > Your quote must be in error.
> ...


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## naturebee (Dec 25, 2004)

djuniorfan8 said:


> How do you know if your bees are "Wild"? They could just be a swarm from another beekeeper in the area. I've caught many a swarm and have yet to be able to determine if they came from a hive box or a tree stump. Unless the queens marked of coarse.


Swarms generally bivouac well within 100 feet of their parent colony. So if you captured a swarm, that is in 'bivouac', and there is no domestic colony found within a few hundred feet, you can be pertty well certain that has originated from a feral nest and not a beekeepers box. 

Best Wishes,
Joe
feralbeeproject.com


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## Jeffzhear (Dec 2, 2006)

ron said:


> thank you all for the good information. the wild bees in question are living in a wall of a cabin. the cabin belongs to a hunting club and they have offered to let me have the bees for free if i remove them. the trick is i may have to dismantle part of their building. would it be worth the effort? especially for a novice such as myself who has no experience removing bees from stru:ctures. if i do so i may find myself repairing a cabin. I was thinking of buying Italian bees. any more information would be very helpful.
> 
> thanks for all of the info


Just make sure that the hunting club assumes all liability for your dismanteling efforts and that they are responsible to repair everything you undo. That includes cutting electrical wires with your sawzall, cutting phone lines...and the siding, ect. Then it is worth it to you! After you do this one...you will decide if it is worth doing the next one...Good luck


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## Jim Fischer (Jan 5, 2001)

The difference is simple:

If they will stay in your box, they clearly are "domesticated".
If they won't stay in your box, they clearly were "wild". 

Aside from that, there's no difference at all that one can 
determine without all sorts of genetic testing.


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## dragonfly (Jun 18, 2002)

ron said:


> Are ferrell bees as productive?


It's hard to say. Alot depends on your area and your native flowers, but DH used to keep bees back in the 70's in South La. He had 9 hives of gentle "bred" bees, and one hive of feral bees. He says the feral bees were much more productive and that he used 1 deep and 9 medium supers on that hive every summer.


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## ron (Apr 28, 2008)

thanks


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## LtlWilli (Mar 11, 2008)

I, as a beginner also, would take the job. Buying the bees is a good way to get off to a much btter grab on just what you here in the hive, and wil most likely have a more productive queen...Also, you can really get tangled up bad with removal and replacement of sections of wall---the cost of what you would need to be charging for your time usually is more than they will want to pay..Also, I am NO carpenter...Suppose that I did it, and they did not like my job. It could get a might sticky, but not from honey...
I had a swarm call today from a lady who wanted me to dismantle enough of a wall and an old chimney to remove a hive that she knows has been in there for three years..."Sorry m'am, I have to pass"...


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## Keith Benson (Feb 17, 2003)

ron said:


> they have offered to let me have the bees for free if i remove them.


"Let" you have them after you go through the considerable effort to remove them? Personally I don't think they are worth it. Perhaps they should let you have some cash for your trouble.

Now if you really want to do a cut out, go for it, but I would be careful not to wind up with some bees and a bill to fix the place.

Keith


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## ron (Apr 28, 2008)

i kind of agree with you guys. it would be different if they were in a log


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