http://www.austinchronicle.com/food/201 ... y-im-home/ I saw a story about this last night on Texas Country Reporter and found the newspaper article, thought the beekeepers amongst us would find it interesting. In the TV story the beekeeper mentioned that they rotate hives between the rooftop and an apiary outside of the city.
Yay! good for them for the effort. I love to see the bees being taken care of and so glad to hear that the goal now is to relocate feral colonies instead of eliminating them.
Thank you for the link, Toni. That is interesting. My husband just "rescued" a bunch of bees from a water meter. If they stay in our hive, good. If they leave, we'll hope that they find a better home than a water meter!
I think putting beehives with rooftop gardens is a great idea . I have seen articles about the trend toward rooftop gardens, especially in metro areas, including beehives up there makes a lot of sense. Why would they get rid of feral bee colonies ? With bees and pollinators on the decline, that is asinine. I am sure I have some in my area, and I would never harm them. Some folks closer to town have beehives, but I doubt mine come so far for flowers?
AAnightowl, honeybees will forage in a three-mile area if they need to. When the queen decides to mate, she will find drones in a five-mile area. Honeybees are not homebodies! We have reports of increased bee activity up and down our road, within the three mile radius, but definitely not just "next door". Our girls are finding flower gardens, blooming crops, and wildflowers to nectar/collect pollen. God bless 'em, our neighbors (within a five-mile radius) are thrilled to have the bees visit. We have several offers of spots on farms that can house a hive or two. If there is a swarm or someone finds a "feral" hive, my husband is called and we do what we can to bring them home and give them a hive. I agree, destroying "feral" hives is not a good idea, unless they are just too aggressive to capture. It happens occasionally, especially if the hive is ready to swarm, or if the queen is weak and the bees are looking for a replacement.
The hives close to me are about 3 miles or so away..Perhaps they visit my yard? I have had honey bees before those hives were put there though, so either someone else close by has some, or mine are wild. Mine have never been agressive to me, and I am happy to have them. I just do not have any way to get hives of my own just yet. Missouri lost most/many of its tame honey bees a few years back. Mine look like the ones they say are 'wild', at any rate they seem to be making a comeback here. As long as I do not get those killer honey bees, I am a happy camper.
Another bee keeping story on the roof top in the city. This time in Paris. http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/stud ... ra-rooftop And also in French parliament too :-D http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/ ... RS20130404
I enjoyed reading this article on the rooftop beekeeper, Toni. Also the links that KK posted were good.
The past year is the first we didn't see one Honey bee. It makes me angry and sad when I hear of the destruction of hives of bees. Total ignorance.
I had forgotten all about this thread, until I saw it again tonight. A few summers ago, I had some vicious bumble bees attack me. I had never met a vicious bumble bee in my life. They were always tame enough that you could pet them while they were on the flowers. I am rather allergic, depending where they sting, and the one attack was on my face, which is a severe reaction for me. They had 2 nests, one by my horse pasture where I have to go often, and another under the eaves of my house, also where I must go often. I had to destroy both nests, which I really hated doing. Unfortunately, it got some/all of my wild honey bees too. I saw a few honey bees this past summer (2020), so I hope they recover. I would never have bothered the bumbles if they had not attacked me twice in a few days. I have a friend who visits often, and she is deathly allergic. One sting, and she is instantly unconscious. She never has time for an epi shot even. I try to keep lots of flowers around my yard (I have loads of perennials and wildflowers and weeds, so not too difficult to do) for the bees.
AAnightowl, one of my sons passed out from a Wasp sting. He had been stung as a child by a Queen bee and his face swelled up. Me, being fresh from the southern mountains, I knew nothing about the danger of allergic reactions. Just a blessing that he was OK.
