BAIT HIVES-HOW WE DOING SO FAR submitted by Grandpa Jack

Hopefully everyone is doing better than I have so far.  Interesting year with the cold weather and wind almost every day. 

A week ago the bait hives had some scout bees looking the situation over and as the day went on, the number of scout bees increased.  Late in the afternoon, they were still looking the bait hive over and at one point, I actually wondered if a swarm had moved in.

Evening came and of course the scouts went back to their swarm and I was quite confident that the next day, I would have success to report to the group.  Morning arrived, no scouts, noon arrived, no scouts and as the afternoon became evening, I knew that I would not be able to report success.  So, what happened ?

The scout bees had actually found a home that they were interested in. My bait box!  Did they get overruled by the greater majority of scouts coming back to the swarm ?  That is definitely a possibility.  But with as much interest that they showed (more that 100 bees going in and out and all around) I think what probably happened to my new catch, was the beekeeper found them first.  We all hope that if our bees swarm that we have first chance at them.  That's the game we play and agree to.  If they leave the apiary, they are fair game.

So disappointed and rejected I will once again reset, re-bait and continue to hold out hope that the weather improves, only my neighbors bees will swarm, and that he/she is not as observant next time.

In the baiting game, one man's loss is another man's gain.  Happy hunting !