[Az-Geocaching] Cache Bees
gale and mike
listserv@azgeocaching.com
Wed, 30 Apr 2003 23:29:13 +0000
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<P><BR>Thanks for the facts on bees and taking care of our safety. I am allergic to bees. We have tried to educate ourselves on the facts about Africanized bees and do routine checks around our home for bees. We found a swarm of bees at a cache we did recently, Holiday Cache. Fortunately it was at dusk so they were not active. I got out of there as soon as I realized what they were. I did see however a white substance they were clinging to in the bush. Could that have been the comb? I just assumed they were swarming temporarily, but what do I know.<BR></P></DIV>
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<DIV></DIV>>From: "Jerry Nelson" <PEAKBAGGER2@COX.NET>
<DIV></DIV>>Reply-To: listserv@azgeocaching.com
<DIV></DIV>>To: <LISTSERV@AZGEOCACHING.COM>
<DIV></DIV>>Subject: [Az-Geocaching] Cache Bees
<DIV></DIV>>Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2003 09:10:52 -0700
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<DIV></DIV>>I checked my Why? cache today after a couple no finds and a report of bees.
<DIV></DIV>>http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=52218
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<DIV></DIV>>The cache is still in place and sure enough, so are the bees! A nice 2-3
<DIV></DIV>>pound swarm about three feet from the cache. I've kept bees as a hobby in
<DIV></DIV>>the past but had to give up this fascinating activity because of the obvious
<DIV></DIV>>problems of having bees in the city with non-understanding neighbors. It
<DIV></DIV>>was hard to resist the urge to grab my old equipment and hive the little
<DIV></DIV>>suckers. I miss all that good honey.
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<DIV></DIV>>Virtually all wild swarms in this part of the country are mixed with the
<DIV></DIV>>Africanized Killer Bee strain. They're aggressive and need to be avoided.
<DIV></DIV>>I'll temporarily disable this until it's safe. This one can still be had if
<DIV></DIV>>you want to go caching in a bee mask, gloves and jumpsuit. In a park this
<DIV></DIV>>large what's the chance a swarm would choose to perch right here?
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<DIV></DIV>>Bee facts: In the spring bees follow the swarming instinct to increase their
<DIV></DIV>>number of colonies. They raise a new, second queen who leaves with about
<DIV></DIV>>half the bees in the old colony. Unless a new home is found quickly, they
<DIV></DIV>>set up temporary quarters by hanging in a clump, usually on a tree limb.
<DIV></DIV>>Scout bees then search for a permanent home, maybe in a cliff crevice or
<DIV></DIV>>someone's attic. In a mild climate like Arizona's, I've seen bees that
<DIV></DIV>>decide to stay and build comb right on a tree limb but this is rare. My
<DIV></DIV>>guess is that the cache bees will be on their way soon and I'll reopen it.
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<DIV></DIV>>Jerry
<DIV></DIV>>Offtrail
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