Fascinating info, thanks Jerry. 
I am allergic to bees (carry a sting kit) so glad to have the warning
on any cache that has ALOT of bees nearby....
Trisha


On Wed, 30 Apr 2003 09:10:52 -0700, "Jerry Nelson" wrote:

> 
> I checked my Why? cache today after a couple no finds and a report of
> bees.
> http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=52218
> 
> The cache is still in place and sure enough, so are the bees! A nice
> 2-3
> pound swarm about three feet from the cache. I've kept bees as a
hobby
> in
> the past but had to give up this fascinating activity because of the
> obvious
> problems of having bees in the city with non-understanding
neighbors. 
>  It
> was hard to resist the urge to grab my old equipment and hive the
> little
> suckers.  I miss all that good honey.
> 
> Virtually all wild swarms in this part of the country are mixed with
> the
> Africanized Killer Bee strain. They're aggressive and need to be
> avoided.
> I'll temporarily disable this until it's safe. This one can still be
> had if
> you want to go caching in a bee mask, gloves and jumpsuit. In a park
> this
> large what's the chance a swarm would choose to perch right here?
> 
> Bee facts: In the spring bees follow the swarming instinct to
increase
> their
> number of colonies. They raise a new, second queen who leaves with
> about
> half the bees in the old colony. Unless a new home is found quickly,
> they
> set up temporary quarters by hanging in a clump, usually on a tree
> limb.
> Scout bees then search for a permanent home, maybe in a cliff crevice
> or
> someone's attic. In a mild climate like Arizona's, I've seen bees
that
> decide to stay and build comb right on a tree limb but this is rare.
My
> guess is that the cache bees will be on their way soon and I'll
reopen
> it.
> 
> Jerry
> Offtrail
> 
> 
> 
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