Have not done a trapout before. Have got a few calls for them and had to turn them down( due to no experience in that area ). Do you have to have a queen in your box your using? How do you get her out? Thanks
Have you read Cleo Hogan's trapout guide? By adding a frame of brood to the trap, you can reasonably expect to get virtually all the bees, including the queen.
I have performed four trapouts last season using the cone method. It takes time, but you can get the queen.
I only use a trap out when the bees took up residence for no more than two weeks.
I will try the Hogan trap out method on my next one to compare.
Mr Beeman... Others.... If you are just wanting to eliminate the colony, the screen cone method is probably faster and perhaps easier.
The method I developed is more for collecting starts from a feral colony and using it year after year, and for getting feral queens and the genetics that have survived one or more seasons. It is designed to get the right mix of bees for a new colony(..i.e. guard bees, cleaners, nurse bees, housekeepers, fanners, drones, etc ).During a good honey flow you can catch the queen, let the feral source make themselves a new queen, then catch her. Quit trapping as soon as the honey flow is about over, let the feral colony build back up for Winter, and trap again next year.
Cleo,
I did have a bee tree that would have worked perfectly for your technique. Unfortunately, they bees idn't make it through the winter. I will find another as I look forward to trying it.
Mr beeman..... I quit doing trapouts a couple of years ago, (not enough time, price of gasoline), but, I agreed to do one in the Red Cross Amish community. (It was right on the side of the road, and they were afraid the bees might spook the horses.) It is on here somewhere. I am posting photos as I go along.
I have made sure that the trap has at least one capped queen cell and that has worked. I don't do trap-outs anymore unless they are low enough and I don't have to climb at all. I have a friend that I partner up with this time of year, making our wives "SCaT widows" (Swarms, Cutouts and Trap-out) until Augustish.
Just takes time and patience. I am working on a way to save the feral queen for my hives. Sometimes I get her, but usually I don't. My number one issue is making sure the hive is gone from the structure or property of the person that wants them gone.
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