I have a friend who found a feral beehive near my property. Since I keep bees I was interested in having a look at them to see if I could utilize them in any way.

Before I had a look at these bees I started asking some questions about what can be done with feral bees. One suggestion was to try and capture any swarms that the hive produces. When bees swarm about half of the hive with the queen leave the existing hive and look for another location to live. Capturing them means that I'd put out an attractive place for them to move into somewhere where it would be easy for them to find and hope that they decide on their own to move into it.

However, the bees that I'm interested in are located in an area that is under development. At any time somebody could come and destroy the beehive. Since the potential exists that the beehive will be destroyed I have to utilize another, more scary option and physically move them into a hive that I make for them.

It's really likely that I'm going to experience some painful stings during the process of moving them but it's important to me to save these 'wild' bees.

The biggest reason I'd like to save them is to preserve their genetics. Since I live in a fairly harsh climate, I know that any living feral bees have adapted to the climate and already know how to survive in it. Beekeepers sometimes introduce inferior genetics into their area by purchasing their queens from places that specialize in rearing queen bees. If I can preserve these feral bees from destruction by someone who doesn't realize the importance of them then I can help preserve their genetics and the evolutionary information they retain that allows them to survive and even thrive in this part of the world.

I'm an amateur at beekeeping in general, this is my first year keeping bees so I'm learning quite a lot about them still. I've never even thought about trying to save a beehive before let alone attempt it so I read and ask a lot of questions.

One of the best places for information and help that I have found on the internet for beekeeping in general is BeeSource.com, which in my opinion is a really experienced and helpful community.

When I feel comfortable with moving these bees I'll try and make a video of it so stay tuned in for some good laughs.

*UPDATE: Moving the Feral Beehive Video