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FarmerD
Lovin' The Homestead
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- Jan 22, 2015
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currently nearly half of our genetics are feral/survivor stock. the other half is small cell. as for the aggressiveness..... while i agree that feral is somewhat aggressive, i can be mitigated by hive design. for example, the same genetics i have in langs will light you on fire if you crack the brood nest. clouds of bees everywhere and guard bees pinging off your gloves and veil continuously. when i work my mother in law's langs those bees usually get me atleast a couple of times, and she normally wants to give up looking in the brood nest after the second hive or so. swarms of those exact hives, when hived in TBH, are MUCH easier to work. while there might be a few bees flying while you work, they arent aggressive. if i were such a coward, i know i could work with no gloves..... probably no veil either. the difference is in the lang you're exposing 9-10 frames of pissed off bees at once, but in the TBH just one. that one little change makes the world of difference.
as for catching swarms, the trick is not only to use lemmongrass oil or some other attractant in a previously occupied hive with some old comb. i have brand new hives with comb and attractant and they get some interest, but not like the older used hives setup the same way!
as for catching swarms, the trick is not only to use lemmongrass oil or some other attractant in a previously occupied hive with some old comb. i have brand new hives with comb and attractant and they get some interest, but not like the older used hives setup the same way!