bee trap

[Dave Fritz]

The Amish lad that splits our wood is also a bee keeper He asked to place a swarm trap at the edge of our woods. We decided to let him go ahead as we love honey and have never known much about bee keeping. It will be a fun adventure to see if it works. Thought others might be interested as well.

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[Allan Dozier]

Good Luck to him. Swarm season is over down here but we get several a year typically.

[Mike Henderson]

If he did capture a swarm at this time of year, it would not have enough time to build up supplies to survive the winter in his area.

That's a pretty elaborate swarm trap, also.

Mike

[Jim Becker]

I have a swarm trap that I built for Professor Dr SWMBO a few years ago. 'Never caught anything in it, but we captured, err....re-captured...multiple swarms over the years while they were still close to our hive stacks using other methods.

[Bruce Wrenn]

If he did capture a swarm at this time of year, it would not have enough time to build up supplies to survive the winter in his area.

That's a pretty elaborate swarm trap, also.

MikeA swarm in May is worth a load of hay, a swarm in June is worth a silver spoon, while a swarm in July isn't worth a fly.

[Bill Dufour]

What makes that a trap and not just a empty hive waiting for new tenants?
Bill D

[Lee Schierer]

What makes that a trap and not just a empty hive waiting for new tenants?
Bill D

Nothing other than size and it is up in a tree.

[Mike Henderson]

Nothing other than size and it is up in a tree.

Yep, you could take the components of a hive (bottom board, brood box and top) and strap them together and put that up in a tree. According to Seeley, "Honeybee Democracy," the scout bees look for a cavity of a certain size. I know that if there's the scent of comb they are more likely to move in. I've had a swarm move into an empty hive box that I had sitting in my yard (not up in a tree).

Mike

[Jim Becker]

What makes that a trap and not just a empty hive waiting for new tenants?
Bill D

The are called swarm traps because that's the specific purpose they are made for. When a colony is strongly considering swarming (which is how bees extend their populations in the wild normally while controlling manageable colony size for available food for overwintering) they send scouts out to look for suitable new homes. Swarm traps are made to be "attractive" to these scouts including using things like lemongrass oil as a lure. The swarm traps typically have enough space for a new colony's needs and are equipped with a special door that the beekeeper can close (usually in the evening) to "trap" the bees inside. From there, they trap is taken to the bee yard and the captured bees are encouraged to move into a more permanent stack of boxes to live and grow.

Many beekeepers use swarm traps to grow their business without having to buy bees along with other propagation techniques.

[Bill Dufour]

Learned something new. thanks.
Bill D

[Dave Fritz]

Learned something new. thanks.
Bill D

Bill, I agree. I suppose I could have googled it but hearing the experiences and ideas others have really adds to my understanding. Thanks for the replies, esp. Jim for the excellent explanation.

And I have to add, this morning a swarm moved in. 481559