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Yeah, winter in Georgia would be mild compared to say, New England. Then your biggest worry will be varroa. The best beeks stay out of their colonies unless they have a specific reason to be in them.True. Whether they swarm or abscond, they'll keep shaking their bee-thing. lolThey 'swarm' when they're hive becomes too crowded or does not have the resources to support it. They do this by creating a few 'Queen' cells to replace the leaving Queen.We had one hive for a few years. They are amazing. Apparently our hive was healthy, because it split every year. We'd worry that the whole hive was swarming away, and then realize half were still in the hive. Loved having bees. The honey was a tasty bonus.
Then the ungrateful bitches left.
When the time is right, they abscond with their Queen and leave behind a few nurse bees and a whole lot of brood in the brood box. When they hatch, they then start the cycle all over again with a new Queen.
The best way to prevent a swarm is to divide the hive, crush the queen cells, and then introduced a new queen to the new hive, one that has been mated and is ready to lay eggs!
You then have two strong hives instead of one overcrowded one.
We really only wanted one hive. And twice when they split we were able to capture the new hive and give them to other beekeepers. The other year we didn't see them until it was too late. I'm sure the new hive found a good home and kept doing what bees do.
From all the literature I have read, in order to have one good hive, you should really have two hives. Depending on where you live of course, but winters can decimate a hive. Along with varroa and nosema.
We read the same thing. Maybe thats why they bailed out on us. The best thing about bees is that they only require attention at select times, as long as you have a good location. Winters in Atlanta aren't too severe.
That doesn't strike you as cruel?when I was young we used to catch the really large white face bumble bees; they do not sting.
We would take a healthy length of sewing thread & wrap it around the bee, and it would fly around like a kite; that is until it ran out of power.
Happened to me about a month ago.............Yellow Jackets.........What amazes me is where a hive can be found or should I say discovered. I remember hearing in the news once about a guy who pushed his lawn mower over top one not knowing that it was there in the first place. Things did not go well for him in the end.
God bless you and his family always!!!
Holly
P.S. A wasp nest was recently found up underneath one of the window shutters of my house.
