Anyone used “swarm commander?”

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Olivia9801

House Bee
Joined
Jan 3, 2012
Messages
276
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Location
Cornwall
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
7
Has anyone managed to obtain “swarm commander” here in the UK and if you have, did you notice any difference compared with lemon balm oil as swarm attractant?

Would like to know.

Regards

Olivia9801
 
Old well used brood combs in the right sized box at the right height with a small defendable bottom entrance do a good enough job as a bait hive without having to spend money on swarm lures (spending money when you don't need to is not a trait found commonly in Yorkshire)
 
Totally agree. These companies seem to dream up more variations on this stuff, ..and the more expensive the better?? I dont think so. Good old brown comb in the right box.. in the right area. Free...Don't get rich throwing money away.
 
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I miss good "swarm down" lure. Once I got from Russia such jelly, which caught a swarm which just come out from from hive, or it was on air.

There are well know spray, which does not work well, but I think that spray vanish in seconds in the heat of sunshine. Mixed into some jelly, doest it work better.

I bought expencive feromone lure in plastic tubes, but no results.

.
 
Old brood frame at the back of the box, three frames with starter strips, solid floor and small entrance all popped up on an outbuilding roof. Catch a few every year.
 

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Has anyone managed to obtain “swarm commander” here in the UK and if you have, did you notice any difference compared with lemon balm oil as swarm attractant?

Would like to know.

Regards

Olivia9801

I purchased a bottle last year directly from America. The postage was ridiculous for such a small bottle. I used it in two paynes poly nucleus hives on the conifer hedge at the bottom of the garden. I had a third without any swarm commander further along the hedge. From spraying it and placing the hives onto the hedge they were interested within 10 mins. Within a fortnight a massive swarm went into the baited hive at 13.00. I moved the hive that evening and placed the other baited hive in its position. My wife was gardening the following day and came into the garage and said that she could hear a lot of bees..
I could not believe another smaller swarm arrived about 13.00 again!!!
So it worked for me.
Bees did show interest in the un baited hive but didn't swarm into it.
 
i bought a bottle of the squirt application stuff Direct from America like Kersal. For 2016 season.It certainly didnt stop me catching swarms, i probably had a good year too, its good stuff. but its also very strong. i would advise no more than one to two good squirts , not even in the front of the door, more on the sides of the trap, or whatever kind of box you use. Once they have found it, its whats inside that sounds.
Their marketing is excellent and one bottle did last more than a season. Ive stopped catching AMM now and dont trap swarms, except whats around my apiaries, in an attempt to catch to catch any of my own swarms, last year i caught about 50% of wild AMM. Others were from my existing stock.
Comparing it to Lemon grass oil, well i kinda feel the effect is about the same. i saw no noticeable difference in activity in either traps.

Like Danni says, the best thing is old dark clean comb, if its clean you want get wax moth either, or very little.

worth a purchase if you have nothing else.
 
i bought a bottle of the squirt application stuff Direct from America like Kersal. For 2016 season.It certainly didnt stop me catching swarms, i probably had a good year too, its good stuff. but its also very strong. i would advise no more than one to two good squirts , not even in the front of the door, more on the sides of the trap, or whatever kind of box you use. Once they have found it, its whats inside that sounds.
Their marketing is excellent and one bottle did last more than a season. Ive stopped catching AMM now and dont trap swarms, except whats around my apiaries, in an attempt to catch to catch any of my own swarms, last year i caught about 50% of wild AMM. Others were from my existing stock.
Comparing it to Lemon grass oil, well i kinda feel the effect is about the same. i saw no noticeable difference in activity in either traps.

Like Danni says, the best thing is old dark clean comb, if its clean you want get wax moth either, or very little.

worth a purchase if you have nothing else.

I agree. I did use it again in another couple of bait hives along with lemongrass oil in another.There was no difference that I could identify in either really and would say they attracted the same amount of visits by scouts.
 
I see it on Amazon.com for $29.95
Do you know what's in it Richard?
NO idea. i am sure i heard something a while ago on JP the bee man and friends from Louisiana, where they use it a lot i believe. Lemon grass oil, but some other plant extract i believe. Gosh thats going back a couple of years. I believe the actual recipe is obviously a secret. The Cocacola Of the swarm attractant world.
Its good stuff, but if i couldn't get it i wouldn't worry, lemon grass oil still is good. :rolleyes:
 
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"but if i couldn't get it i wouldn't worry, lemon grass oil still is good. "

And a fraction of the price!

Blimey..... I didn't realise I had Yorkshire heritage! 😂
 
Thank you for the replies. Am pleased that from those that have tried both that there seems no difference.

Am still surprised it’s not for sale over here as well mind.

Regards
 
It used to be on Amazon UK but was discontinued
 
I know this is an old post but I wanted to say thank you to all that have used Swarm Commander. I am the creator and I’m looking for distribution in Europe. I’ve reached out to many suppliers but had no response. If anyone has any connections with a supply company I’d be interested in having a conversation and working out a deal to open the door for this extremely successful product.
 
I see it on Amazon.com for $29.95
Do you know what's in it Richard?
I’m the creator and we took nasanov into the laboratory and broke it down to the basic chemistry using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. It took 2 years to perfect. Since then we’ve sold literally tens of thousand of bottles across the world with many satisfied customers, I’m hoping to find distributors in the UK soon.
 
Hello. welcome to the forum. Judging by reports this seems to be good stuff..
I hope you find somebody to help you out.
 

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