[JellyB]

I ordered a swarm trap from a local Amish guy that everyone around here goes to. He builds his swarm traps weird. They are the same size as a 5 frame medium nuc. The bottom is has a long slit 1in. wide that is screened over. The outer cover has a 5 or 6 pitch and is mounted flush to the back and hinged at the top/back/ high side, yet telescopes over the other 3 sides. The corners are all Rabbet joints. and there is NO entrance or handles. He said that he uses a pitched roof so that raccoons do not sit on top of them? He doesn't put in the entrances because every bee keeper around that uses them, uses a different type of entry. And he did give me 2 cleated handles & 4 screws so that I can mount them where I want them once I decide what type/ location of entrance I'll use and how I am going to mount them. He also gave me a piece of 1/4in luan sheeting that is cut so that it will lay over the frames, to prevent burr comb? Total cost $22.oo w/o frames.
So here is the question....... Entrance? Any suggestions?
Raccoons? Really? First Skunks now Raccoons?

 

[stan.vick]

I too have inquired ( by reading other's statements ) as to the size of the entrances. I ended up using my 22 inch, 14 bar TBH nucs ( I like to multi task my equipment ) that have a hole 1 1/8 inch diameter for the main entrance, they also have a 3/4 inch hole on the side for when I put in a divider and use them for twin mating nucs. Most advice I had gotten from the bee gurus was about a 1 3/4 inch entrance being preferred by the bees.
I had real good luck so far this spring, out of seven traps I caught three swarms, guess which hole they used, yep, bees being bees they didn't read the script, all three used the 3/4 inch hole for their entrance. I also had several four feet TBH that had been divided into four mating nucs standing empty in a bee yard, all were the same except one that had two 1 1/8 inch holes on the end that I had screened over, that's the one they picked, it also had a 3/4 entrance, I think the Amish guy knows what he's doing, with the extra screened ventilation in the bottom.

 

[rhaldridge]

I use those rotating galvanized disks that Kelley's sells. The opening is 1 and 5/8", I think. The great thing about these is that it's so simple to secure the bees. You go to the trap at dusk, with a screwdriver. Loosen the screw, rotate the disk to the screened opening, tighten screw, and take the trap to the car.

 

[shannonswyatt]

I had a swarm trap have it's lid chewed up last year on the edges. I was thinking squirrels, but I guess raccoon could do it. I don't mount mine so high that they would think to use them as a home "platform", and the one that was chewed up was off the beaten path. But I would think that would discourage bees from moving in if there were animals living upstairs.