I’ve had the opportunity to respond over the years to questions by potential buyers of nucs made up of the bees that I obtain through swarm captures and “cut-outs” or live bee removals from the walls of houses, garages, trees, etc…
I am going to write some of these questions here in FAQ format to hopefully help folks decide if locally “rescued” bees are the right bees for them.
Q: Can a beginner beekeeper who’s just starting be successful with “rescued” bees?
A: Truth be told, “rescued bees”, specifically those bees removed alive as a colony from the walls of a building, a roof, tree, etc… need a lot of “TLC” from a beekeeper who is going to be able to pay lots of attention to them. To provide sugar syrup as needed and perform with due diligence any hive manipulations that will keep the colony growing and “stabilize” them. That dosn’t have to be an experienced beekeeper, a new beekeeper can do it, but they need to go into taking these bees with that knowledge and mentally prepared to give them the attention they will need.
Q: Are locally “rescued” bees better or worse than bees purchased from a commercial supplier such as a breeder or pollinator?
A: Locally adapted bees, in my opinion, are always going to give a beekeeper a better chance of being successful in keeping the bees healthy and alive. Any adaptions necessary to survive in the particular environment they are in has already begun or has taken place to allow for the best chance of survival. If you are comparing getting bees from a local provider, such as myself or a local breeder/pollinator, those will always be “better” than bringing in bees from an area that differs dramatically in temperature and environment.
Q: Do “rescued” bees require more work to keep them alive than bees purchased from a breeder/pollinator?
A: Yes and no, the way I see it. BBE-Tech works to ensure that bees we “rescue” have time in a hive to “rest” and stabilize. We make sure there is a queen present and that she is laying in a good pattern before we let the colony go to a new beekeeper. Given that, I feel that any nuc made from a split within a matter of short time will require extra attention and care to grow and be healthy. However, had we just collected the bees from the source location, put them into a hive box and turned them around again to the beekeeper without giving them that week or two to “stabilize” I think that a lot more “work” would be required.
Q: Does it really matter if I prefer “rescued” bees or beekeeper raised bees?
A: It is the position of BBE-Tech that given the situation of bees being under “attack” from a variety of threats from parasites, pathogens and pesticides that keeping bees alive that have managed to adapt and survive on their own, without beekeeper management, are the type of genetics beekeepers need to be promoting. There are plenty of bees dying every year, here we have bees who are surviving if not thriving on their own and without being “rescued” would otherwise simply be exterminated. This, to us, is simply unacceptable. By being willing to purchase or otherwise take on “rescued” local bees, we are being true conservationists and stewards of the natural world.