[hankstump]

I'll be doing a presentation for our club on Swarm Traps in the next month, as I do almost every year around this time. I've been pretty successful in catching swarms in the past years (about 15/yr.) and base my presentation on my experiences, and things I have glommed from all of you on this site.

Have any of you learned anything new in swarm trapping in the past year? Any new techniques, or swarm lures that you care to share? Anyone tried those Swarm boxes Dadant has to offer? Always willing to give credit where credit is due if you have something new and cool in the old art of trapping.

I laid out my presentation around the 3 basic principles. Scent, Accommodation, and Location.
Scent - Old comb, old box, swarm lures, all the good smells
Accommodation - ~10 frame deep box, yellow comb, open space with starter strips, small entrance, no air flow
Location - Where the bees are, entrance down wind, 4-20 feet high, partial shade.
I'd be glad to share my presentation if you are planning on doing a presentation for your club this spring. Thanks in advance for any additions or insights.

Happy new year to all.
Cheers, Phil in Fremont.

 

[MattDavey]

Maybe slightly off topic, but David from the Barnyard Bees channel on YouTube creates artificial swarms by hanging a queen in a cage from a wire in a tree. The queen attracts bees flying past and by the end of the day he has a swarm.

 

[AR1]

Maybe slightly off topic, but David from the Barnyard Bees channel on YouTube creates artificial swarms by hanging a queen in a cage from a wire in a tree. The queen attracts bees flying past and by the end of the day he has a swarm.

Crazy! Got a link?

 

[MattDavey]

Crazy! Got a link?

Here you go:
Swarm combines with caged Queen artifical swarm
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qwbV2D-1W6Q

 

[hankstump]

Yeah, I had heard of that. Seems to work just fine in a yard with adequate bee population. Thanks for jogging my memory. I'll add it to my presentation, right along with the Russian Scion (slum gum on a piece of burlap) .

Cheers, Phil

 

[JWPalmer]

Phil, you mentioned yellow comb. Everything I have ever heard was that you want the oldest and darkest comb you have for a trap. Do you have a source for the use of yellow comb?

 

[hankstump]

While it is certainly true that black comb is very useful in helping improve the scent in the hive to give it that lived in smell. However, I have seen that swarms will actually adopt the yellow comb quicker than the old black comb. You need both. Black comb for the scent, and yellow comb for the queen to start laying as soon as possible. Bare minimum is one of each. Too much black comb makes it a magnet for wax moths. I find that one or two frames of black comb usually don't get too infested with wax moths before the bees show up.

I get the yellow drawn comb from deadouts or honey harvest. Try it this season and see if its true in you area too.

Phil

 

[Litsinger]

Phil:

Good thread- I've enjoyed reading the feedback. If you would be willing to post your presentation when it is complete, I would certainly be appreciative to review it.

Happy New Year to you and your family.

Russ

 

[hankstump]

One question I did have though, is when using frames from a Deadout. Sometime there is a handful of larvae that didn't quite hatch out, but the rest of the frame is nice drawn comb. Does anyone have an opinion on if those should be used in swarm traps, or if the dead larvae create a bad odor for the scouting bees. I'd assume that if the bees did move in, they would clean that our directly, but if it keeps them from moving in, that would be counterproductive.

Should I scratch them open and let them dry out first?
Thanks,
Phil in Fremont.

 

[JWPalmer]

Bees move into previously occupied cavities all the time. My opinion is that a great number of them still have some dead capped larvae in them. So, putting a frame with a few in it would be quite natural to the bees.

 

[Jack Grimshaw]

I try to mount my traps under a limb so I can use a rope to lower that huge swarm you didn't notice for a month.
The more traps you put out the greater your luck.