Bee dilemma....

[susanna]

I have an urban kitchen garden - I would strive for fully organic, but in my city situation am only able to say that I am "pesticide free" vis a vis my growth medium (the city sprays liberally for mosquitos, airborne). After ten years of growing in this way, in the past couple of years I have noticed a seriously active honeybee hive forming on my land. I don't want people to get stung (my neighbor's children are allergic), and so want to move at least some of them somewhere more useful. I am currently researching through the local extension service (no responses yet). Specifically I want to know if they can come get a portion (or all, if it works that way) of my "wild/urban" bees for use in strengthening managed hives. I've heard from friends that extension services can "capture" hives that are wild in nature for assistance in the current colony collapse nightmare. If anyone knows about these types of efforts, I would love to hear about it...or if there are apiarists (?) on board, any advice?

[bvar22]

1. Look for a local BeeKeepers club or association.

There is probably one close to you.
They will likely have members who will be more than happy to remove the entire colony.
And, you will probably get some excellent honey.

Several members of our BeeKeepers Association remove bees either for a reasonable fee (or free). It is not difficult. They have a home built vacuum contraption that works well. They rehive the bees at another location.

I see you are in Michigan, which is well north of the Africanized line.
We are on the edge in Central Arkansas, and the State (County Extension) will destroy all wild colonies if they are contacted.

Good Luck.
We started 2 colonies in the Spring of 2007, and both are doing well.
Low Stress, decentralized, small scale, chemical free, organic BeeKeeping may be the answer to CCD.