Last night, I went to a bee tree to trap out the bees for a friend. I like Cleo Hogan's trap design, but I changed a few elements. The tree is on a fence line and has grown through the fence which keeps me from being able to wrap the tree in order to seal the bees.
Therefore I bought this roof vent flashing at Lowes for $5 to help isolate the entrance and provide a good seal to the the pipe. I applied it to the tree with staples and screws. Then I filled in the gaps with expanding foam. I also filled 3 other small entrances on the tree.
I then cut about 12" of 2" PVC, ran it from the flashing into a 2.5" hole I had cut in my hive box.
On the inside, I attached a funnel made of screen material and duct tape. Here are some pics:
TODAY, I checked it, and only a handful of bees were in the hive. And many bees were chewing through the foam--so much so that the chewing was audible.
So, a few thoughts.
1) I didn't see any bees in the PVC. Are bees adverse to walking on PVC as they are walking on duct tape?
So I shortened the pipe to about 8" and roughed up the inside. That seemed to help as bees were regularly exiting the pipe when I reconnected it.
2) I removed the screen trap. I thought it best to allow the bees to come and go freely before I begin the trapping process.
3) I re-filled any gaps in the foam.
Anything I need to re-think?
Therefore I bought this roof vent flashing at Lowes for $5 to help isolate the entrance and provide a good seal to the the pipe. I applied it to the tree with staples and screws. Then I filled in the gaps with expanding foam. I also filled 3 other small entrances on the tree.
I then cut about 12" of 2" PVC, ran it from the flashing into a 2.5" hole I had cut in my hive box.
On the inside, I attached a funnel made of screen material and duct tape. Here are some pics:


TODAY, I checked it, and only a handful of bees were in the hive. And many bees were chewing through the foam--so much so that the chewing was audible.
So, a few thoughts.
1) I didn't see any bees in the PVC. Are bees adverse to walking on PVC as they are walking on duct tape?
So I shortened the pipe to about 8" and roughed up the inside. That seemed to help as bees were regularly exiting the pipe when I reconnected it.
2) I removed the screen trap. I thought it best to allow the bees to come and go freely before I begin the trapping process.
3) I re-filled any gaps in the foam.
Anything I need to re-think?