[mlanden]

My 2 hives bombed this year. For future reference: if I want to capture a swarm next year, would it make sense to put lemongrass oil [or some lemon-scented stuff) into a super -- with frames -- and place in a fruit tree, maybe 6-7 feet above the ground? A local old-time beek suggested this to me lately. I always get lots of varying (and often conflicting) suggestions on things like this, so ..... any other ideas, as well as verifications of the suggestion, are welcome.

 

[Riverderwent]

For future reference: if I want to capture a swarm next year, would it make sense to put lemongrass oil [or some lemon-scented stuff) into a super -- with frames -- and place in a fruit tree, maybe 6-7 feet above the ground? A local old-time beek suggested this to me lately. I always get lots of varying (and often conflicting) suggestions on things like this, so ..... any other ideas, as well as verifications of the suggestion, are welcome.

35 to 40 liter cavity. 8 or so feet high (15 feet is better, but much less convenient and convenience matters). 1 1/4" diameter round entrance facing south or southeast. No gaps in the top that let in light and no screened bottomboard or other screened ventilation. Lemongrass oil, but no more 4 or 5 drops, or Swarm Commander. Shade. One frame of drawn comb as the second frame from the back away from the entrance; the rest undrawn foundationless frames. Near water. 1/4 mile or so from known hives. Put out a couple of tablespoons of concentrated (2 parts sugar to 1 part water by weight) sugar syrup with a couple of drops of anise oil if you want to confirm that there are bees in the area.

 

[FlowerPlanter]

T Seeley's;

https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/1813/2653/2/Bait Hives for Honey Bees.pdf

Here's my window swarm trap, two years in a row caught swarms. An old 10 frame box with two frames of drawn comb place in position 1 and 10 the remaining filled with empty foundationless frames. LGO as a lure;

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?330984-found-a-bee-tree&p=1476413#post1476413

Most of my trap were 5 frame nucs, I found the higher you go up the better the chance, 20ft is about the highest I went.

 

[grantsbees]

1/4 mile or so from known hives.

Is this really true? That means that bees would naturally only look for new homes where there are no other bees around.

 

[grantsbees]

Bumping... Do swarm traps really need to be 1/4 mile away from known hives? That seems unusual to me.

 

[hubba bubba]

100 to 150 feet from bee trees is were i caught mine.

 

[grantsbees]

100 to 150 feet from bee trees is were i caught mine.

So, it's possible to catch a swarm in a trap near other colonies?

 

[hubba bubba]

2 or 3 traps around a bee tree , they will pick one. I had a box the size of 12 wide by 13 inches tall. With 5 meduim frames in it. Two were foundation. The rest was starter strips.

 

[Nordak]

So, it's possible to catch a swarm in a trap near other colonies?

I catch a swarm every year in a bait hive positioned right next to 3 of my hives. My own bees seem to take off a good distance to the north of me from my observations. I think it's unlikely I'd catch my own swarms, but I definitely catch outsiders.

 

[grantsbees]

I catch a swarm every year in a bait hive positioned right next to 3 of my hives. My own bees seem to take off a good distance to the north of me from my observations. I think it's unlikely I'd catch my own swarms, but I definitely catch outsiders.

That's great!

 

[Riverderwent]

Bumping... Do swarm traps really need to be 1/4 mile away from known hives? That seems unusual to me.

So, it's possible to catch a swarm in a trap near other colonies?

Catching swarms near beehives is definitely possible. I do much better from several hundred yards to a mile away from known hives. I have tried and rarely catch a swarm within 200 yards of my bee yards. I've also observed that swarm traps at my home tend to catch swarms when I don't have hives here, and they don't when I do. I tend to think that bees naturally spread themselves out if they are able to do so because that would make sense from a survival standpoint assuming relatively even distribution of water and food and considering predation in bee yards. That is also what I have observed. But this may be a case of the tendency to find what we are looking for. In other words, I seldom even place a trap near my yards now because I tried repeatedly and they did much better further away.

 

[grantsbees]

I guess the bees just do what they want and keep us feeble humans guessing at their behavioral patterns.

 

[dudelt]

I always keep several empty hives in my apiary to try to catch swarms. This year I caught 2 swarms with them in April. They just moved right in. If I had used some type of lure, I may have gotten more. Having them fully assembled in the yard saves on the storage space too!