Tracking Bees

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mikeal

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May 24, 2006
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I was looking through one of the Firefox books the other day and came across a section on beekeeping. In it they mentioned attracting bees with sugar water or honey and tracking them to the hive. That seems easy enough, but it also mentioned using dirt, urine and a corncob to attract them. This seems like it would be pretty useful in a survival situation. Anyone ever try it?

Mike
 
Hmmm dirt, urine and corncob - sounds like the ingredients for a biofuels plant!!!!
 
Dirt, urine ,corncobs ?? Learn something about bees from a reputable source ! 4H or your county extension can get you to a beekeepers group. Use what is natural to the bees - honey ! They can BTW, get angry when confronted with some smells -never use scented soaps, aftershave etc when near bees.
 
bees hang out where there is flowers ... I learned that to find them , you find the flowers first , and the bees come along naturaly ... :) but artificial baits would work , the bees seem to love the dogs water dish here , and ts just water .

To track them , the old people would just tie a fine thread around a bee they caught , it slowed the bee down and made it easier to see , then follow it home .

Ive seen it done and like the native honey better than euro bee honey , but its worth noting that native bees dont have a stung here ( some do , but most dont , and the experts what writes books says they dont but I got stung by enough to reckon different )

Ive tried to tie threads around the bees but I either break the bee or the bee stings me . Im not real good at tiny stuff like that , my fingers are too big .
 
You'll need a good magnifying glass if you expect to follow their wandering little footprints.
 
In one of my old trapping books (repos from FF&G) they sugest using a wood bow with a smal window in it 1" is about right . Set the box on a stump or rock about waist level and then burn some honey comb this will eventually atract a be or two . When one goes into the box close it and cover the window for a while then uncover the window for a while and then let the bee out , it will fly back to the nest and tell of the find and in a little while there will be a line of bees flying and you can follow them easily.
 
We have hundreds in a flower tree we have here, I'm gonna make a hive and keep them :)
Their already loving my flowers might as well put them to good use.
 
to line bees you need to use bait such as honey or sugar water. you need the bait to keep the bees coming back to the same location and they will come for easy pickens. when you get a hit from a honeybee try to mark it with a bit of blue chalk powder. then pay attention to the direction it heads. then move your bait a little ways in that direction. keep an eye on the bees coming to your bait. you're looking for the blue bee. you keep doing this and keep moving in the direction the marked bee heads. as you get closer to the hive the intensity of the visits and the number of visitors increase. keep looking for the increased activity and you will find the entrance to the hive. it is not a fast process.
 
To line bees, it takes HOURS. Even days some times. Even when you get good at it, it still takes a minimum of 3 hrs most times. You don't want to do it. Finding bees out in the wild is pretty rare now adays. They DO exist, but normally die within the first season due to varroa mites.

on another note: I just installed 10 package hives today! BOOO APRIL.
 
Listen to Joezilla, he is the man when it comes to bees. :D
Scott
 
So are we still having the bee problems that started last year or whenever? I noticed that local grown honey is quite a bit more expensive, but I didn't know if that was still an aftershock from last year.
 
Yep, we still have it. We have ID'd some interesting virus that could be the cause. The rise in honey is probably from that scare, and gas prices. I don't think its as bad in GA though.
 
xinel said:
We have hundreds in a flower tree we have here, I'm gonna make a hive and keep them :)
Their already loving my flowers might as well put them to good use.
Click to expand...

These are sterile worker bees. They won't reproduce or build a hive without a queen present.

Codger
 
mikeal said:
I was looking through one of the Firefox books the other day and came across a section on beekeeping. In it they mentioned attracting bees with sugar water or honey and tracking them to the hive. That seems easy enough, but it also mentioned using dirt, urine and a corncob to attract them. This seems like it would be pretty useful in a survival situation. Anyone ever try it?

Mike
Click to expand...

Obviously I’m not as survival savvy as I think I am. How exactly would finding or using bees be “useful in a survival situation”?
 
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