Sweazea Minifarm

Photo of an old whiskey barrel we use to keep on the front porch.
The barrel was full of bees.
I was working in Syria at the time.
The bees stayed several days, but moved on due to the heat or
the fact that there was only one entrance.
My wife later found them in a tree in the pasture.
She called a beekeeper and he came and took them for his hives.

Never kill honey bees if you can find a beekeeper.
As of 1999, 90% of wild honey bees had died.
Managed hives decreased by 50%.

This was due to an invasion of tracheal mites followed by
an invasion of varroa mites.

Another note: Honey bees affect one out of every three bites of
food produced across this country.
The value of their pollination is enormous.

This is what was happening. A loggerhead turtle.
Large turtles will pull a duck under, drown it and bury it in the mud to
tenderize the meat. Then come back later for a meal.
As you can tell, this one was getting fat, eating duck.
My family trapped him while I was on the road somewhere.