Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Swarm still in tree


It has been 9 days and the swarm still has not found a new home.  Perhaps the cold, rainy weather has hindered their search.  Over the past 2-3 days, I have seen no activity around my bait box so I figured they had rejected it.  However, I do not give up easily, so today I made a new bait box that they may find more attractive.

This is a deep box, closer to the ideal size bees look for.  I placed it higher above the ground, as well.
I am concerned that the swarm may not survive.  The bees take only about 5 days worth of food with them when they leave home.  If they do not find a home, it is possible that they will build a nest outside of a cavity. We saw one such hive in Tassajara and I believe it was pictured in a blog.

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