[cjfoster72]

I made 5 swarm traps this spring and have one hanging from the side of my wood shed as seen in the picture. I used a medium hive body and some lemon grass oil on a q-tip in a small baggie on top of the frames. The hole is 1" diameter...and I added #4 hardware cloth to keep birds out. All foundation, no drawn comb to try to keep wax moths away. I did use hive bodies that had been used before so they have propolis and other natural odors to them.

Is the 1" hole big enough?

Also, I just nailed a piece of plywood to the bottom of the hive body which left very little room under the frames to where the bees can't crawl under the frames. Is this a problem?

Is this box big enough or should I be using something bigger?

Any advice or feedback is appreciated!

 

[drlonzo]

Looks and sounds great to me. If i were a colony i'd take up residence there. The hole is fine, they suggest 15 mm but 1 inch is good too. The lemon grass oil in baggie, along with used hive body is great to draw them in. The fact that the bottom is close to the frames is of no real concern. Before the bees will draw out that much wax, you should have them down and transferred into their new homes. The phisical size of the trap is perfect as well. They say volume of 40 liters is optimal. Which is just a shade under a deep body if i recall correctly. Happy trapping!

 

[juzzerbee]

Looks and sounds like it is just like my set up, right down to the bottom bars touching the bottom. i figured they wouldn't be that picky though. I used 6 deeps for my traps and a frame of drawn in each. Now us here in the midwest just wait and wait and wait by the sounds of things in the replies in my posted threads. Good luck, let me/us know if you get one. I will follow suit to what worked for you. juzzer

 

[dphillipm]

I just got a hive yesterday that I find funny. I have been building swarm traps also. I have been researching the proper size of swarm traps, and hole openings, and trying to build my trap according to the science of trapping bees. I got a call yesterday from a guy that had bees in his camper. He said they were going in where the power cord comes out of the camper, and I could get to them by removing the little door on the rectifier box on the inside. The opening had maybe 1/4" gap around the power cord, and the box on the inside was about the size of a nuc. So I thought this was going to be a small hive. I filled bought of my vac. boxes with bees, and guessing their was 5lb of bees in that swarm.

 

[greathorned]

I think you would be better off placing the trap on top of the structure shown in photo. Traps are recommended to be a minimum of 6 feet high off the ground. As this roof in photo is likely sloped, simply make a wedge that contours to the roof which would level the trap on the roof. You will not only gain what looks to be about two feet, you also gain more "height" to the scents on the wind to attract scout bees. A couple tablespoons of Honey, particularly Citrus Honey, smeared on the inside walls certainly will also help attract scouts that send a signal back to the hive that they found an ideal new home. Good luck, free local bee's are much more preferred over expensive out-of-state bees. Also, keep and ear out for house infestations, and a lookout for commercial bee yards. Traps are best set in areas of High Bee Densities.

 

[cjfoster72]

That is a good idea. The box is actually just a little over 6' off the ground. But I agree that placing it on top of the shed would allow the scent of the lgo to fly better. However....as this box is already hung, and I've got more to hang, I may leave it for now