swarm boxes

[cdraves]

I'm thinking about purchasing from bushy mt. one of their swarm traps[it looks like a large flowerpot]. has anyone used one of these

[paintingpreacher]

They look so much like a large flowerpot to me, that I have some large flowerpots hanging in the trees now. Just put them up a few weeks ago, Aready has holes in the bottom, just stopped up all but one and put a peace of plywood on top. You can get about any size, and they weigh almost nothing.

[Garry Forsythe]

Those traps work if you can hive the swarm shortly after it arrives! Otherwise, not so good.

I have better luck with old hive bodies with a couple of Pierco frames inside. For a lure, I place some sugar syrup in a small jar, punch a couple of holes in the lid and put it in the box. I also make sure the syrup has a little honey-b-healthy inside.

[Grant]

Gary is right. Unless you can transfer the swarm to a hive body, they start making comb with a tremendous urgency.

I like the box-style traps. Mine are home-made and look like nucs. A swarm moves in, and since I have frames in these nuc boxes, the bees go to work and at my convenience, I come along at night when everyone is home, plug the opening, and take the swarm trap to my bee yard.

Transfering the frames to a regular hive body is a piece of cake.

I've never used the flower pot-style. The box-style is the way to go for me.

But give it a try! They keep making those silly things so they must be working for somebody. The box-style traps made of the same substance were discontinued because the manufacturer had problems with them warping. I never had that problem, but if a squirrel wants to make a nest in your paper/fiber swarm trap, it doesn't take much to chew them up.

I wish you well!

Grant
Jackson, MO

[sierrabees]

I use the waxed cardboard nuc boxes from Mann Lake. They are light weight, will hold any size frame or top bars, can be easily sealed off for transportation, come dissassembled so it is easy to carry one or two in your car during swarm season, and cost about 1/4 as much as the flower pot kind. They have the added advantage that when you get the bees home they can stay in the box until they get crowded and then the frames can be transfered to a more permenant hive. They hold up well to rain but don't hold up well in very hot sunny locations.

[flathead]

<.....but don't hold up well in very hot sunny locations.>
That counts me out for the cardboard ones.

Having to check the flower pots often is a non-starter for me. Cut-outs are messy and time consuming enough without me creating any.

I am using nuc boxes as traps this year(my first swarm trapping year). Seems like an older box that has been lived in would be more appealing.

Is trapping a reliable way for a beek to pick up bees? I mean is it something you mainly due around your bee yards or do some really work it hard by putting a bunch of them out?

How many swarms do you normally trap each year?

[Craig W.]

yes I would like to know also. Do you have to elevate the swarm boxes?

[odfrank]

I have caught eight each of the two last years. Elevating is not necessary but maybe increases the chances. I caught four at my house set only as high as an overturned garbage can. The others were caught on top of a five foot tall wood pile. This wood pile was on a driveway between two houses, kind of like in a slot. At my house it was just on the north, wind sheltered side of my bedroom. Only use boxes with standard frames, like he said anything involving cutouts is a waste of time. I have had luck both with yellow combs and old black combs. A good sprinkling of lemon grass oil seems to really help. Wooden wine boxes fit medium frames almost perfectly.

[Grant]

FLATHEAD: Is trapping a reliable way for a beek to pick up bees? I mean is it something you mainly due around your bee yards or do some really work it hard by putting a bunch of them out?

Me: I think it is an excellent way to pick up swarms, but not necessarily in the bee yard. Swarms seem to sense the population density of the immediate area. Go out about 100 yards or so from your bee yard and set up the traps.

There is also an amusing debate as to whether these are truly feral or merely escaped swarms from under- and mis-managed hives.

FLATHEAD: How many swarms do you normally trap each year?

Me: I set out around 80 traps, all within ten miles of my bee yards and my residence. I usually set out two or three per location. I catch around 30 to 40 swarms per year. Not all of them are really viable. The late swarms never really seem to catch on. Early swarms, if given drawn comb from a dead out or combined with a weak over-wintered hive will really take off.

I've taken my swarms and put them to a rigorous test of no treatments. I think, and many will argue against me, that there is a population of feral bees out there that have developed a resistance to mites.

That said, rather than argue I'd prefer to educate. But it is really hard to determine where those swarms really come from and what they've endured prior to your catch. All I can really tell you is I trap them and put them to work in my bee yard.

Grant
Jackson, MO

[flathead]

Thanks Grant.

I caught a swarm from my hives in late October and it may make it through winter, fingers crossed.

I have a camp out in the Atchafalaya spillway, a 13 mile boat ride from the nearest road.

Hope to catch some from out there this spring, if there are any.

[sierrabees]

<Is trapping a reliable way for a beek to pick up bees? I mean is it something you mainly due around your bee yards or do some really work it hard by putting a bunch of them out?>

Is hunting and fishing a reliable way to feed a family? I know some people for whom it would be and a whole lot more that would starve. It's probably the same with swarm trapping.

[wayacoyote]

Grant,
What type traps do you use?
What size are they?
What's your "secret" weapon?

You're right, some might argue with you regarding resistant ferals. However, have they conducted an experiment in your same location? Probably not. So you are intitled to forming your hypothesis. I hope you're right, myself. Good luck.

Waya