Bait Hive

[mike99]

Hi. I have set up a Nuc as a bait hive. I have loaded it with drawn frames and ones with foundation. I have 2 questions
1. Is it too late for a bait hive?
2. If not, is there anything else I can do to make it more attractive?

 

[Beefriendly]

1. Is it too late for a bait hive?
2. If not, is there anything else I can do to make it more attractive?

No far from it....
More attractive...too many possible answers. If it's there it has a chance.

 

[Millet]

Hi. I have set up a Nuc as a bait hive. I have loaded it with drawn frames and ones with foundation. I have 2 questions
1. Is it too late for a bait hive?
2. If not, is there anything else I can do to make it more attractive?

When the scouts go in search of a new home prior to swarming they like to see a empty cavity which they some how measure out in total darkness , a nuc full of frames may turn them away, one drawn frame the older the better will attract them, once you have caught a swarm you can add more frames or put them in a full size hive depending on the size of the swarm.

 

[Angry_Mob]

A national nuc may be a bit small, although I do have a 14x12 nuc out.

• If theres an OMF, cover it over with cardboard.
• If bess have previously lived in it before, it helps.
• Smaller entrances help.
• Old frame of foundation.
• Some put in frames with a starter strip of foundation, gives the swarm somewhere to build whilst making the box look bigger when the bees are scouting it out.
• South facing.
• Preferably higher up, in a tree.
• Add a single drop of lemongrass oil to one of the frames.

 

[Millet]

A national nuc may be a bit small, although I do have a 14x12 nuc out.

• If theres an OMF, cover it over with cardboard.
• If bess have previously lived in it before, it helps.
• Smaller entrances help.
• Old frame of foundation.
• Some put in frames with a starter strip of foundation, gives the swarm somewhere to build whilst making the box look bigger when the bees are scouting it out.
• South facing.
• Preferably higher up, in a tree.
• Add a single drop of lemongrass oil to one of the frames.

Lemon grass oil is rubbish and a money making scam IMO , i have tried it many times and it did not work, when i realized it did not work i caught a swarm in a nuc using one frame of drawn foundation and no lemon grass oil, it smells nice though.

 

[Angry_Mob]

Lemon grass oil is rubbish and a money making scam IMO , i have tried it many times and it did not work, when i realized it did not work i caught a swarm in a nuc using one frame of drawn foundation and no lemon grass oil, it smells nice though.

Hard to get off your hands as well.

Another method also mentioned on here is when you have a dead or squeezed queen drop her into a small container of rubbing alcohol then use that as a swarm lure.

 

[Millet]

Hard to get off your hands as well.

Another method also mentioned on here is when you have a dead or squeezed queen drop her into a small container of rubbing alcohol then use that as a swarm lure.

I have heard that to be false also not sure if it is true but why would bees be attracted to another Queens pheromone when they want to swarm with there own Queen..

 

[mintmoth]

It's looking good for my bait hive which is a National brood box plus frames with starter strips (and one - one only - drop of lemongrass oil). It's on a pile of boxes so the entrance is about four feet off the ground.

Wednesday I saw one bee checking it over. Thursday she brought a friend. Friday a couple of dozen. Yesterday perhaps forty or fifty. Today must have been close on a hundred, very excited, circling the hive, running in and out, and doing little wiggles and body shaking in front of the entrance.

I've kept my fingers crossed because twice last year I had bees showing a lot of interest through the week, then come Sunday both times, nothing at all, which I interpreted as a vigilant beekeeper doing an AS on the Saturday.

So I'm hoping the keeper of these bees is not checking

 

[mike99]

Thanks for all the advice. The Nuc is well used as it came from my BKA. out of the 5 frames that are in, 4 of them have drawn comb and the middle one is new foundation.
the only outstanding issue is that is about 2 feet off the ground as I have nowhere that I can put it up high. I have heard it's better if it's high but not a deal breaker. It's south facing in a quiet garden.

 

[Millet]

Do you want need bees but struggling to get them..

 

[mike99]

Do you want need bees but struggling to get them..

??
I want them. I still need to buy and build a hive. Getting a swarm would give me the time to assemble one. Plus I am tight. Getting a colony for free would trump a purchased colony.

 

[Millet]

??
I want them. I still need to buy and build a hive. Getting a swarm would give me the time to assemble one. Plus I am tight. Getting a colony for free would trump a purchased colony.

You where nearly lucky..

 

[mike99]

Why was I nearly lucky?

 

[mike99]

If you have a spare colony to sell I would be interested in buying it off you?

 

[Millet]

If you have a spare colony to sell I would be interested in buying it off you?

I do not have a spare colony, PM

 

[Eyeman]

Lemon grass oil is rubbish and a money making scam IMO , i have tried it many times and it did not work, when i realized it did not work i caught a swarm in a nuc using one frame of drawn foundation and no lemon grass oil, it smells nice though.

This is one of the few articles where someone has compared different lures.
Lemon grass oil was the "Bees Knees".
https://www.dropbox.com/s/kwqizkdfhk9mrpg/swarm lures.pdf?dl=0

 

[Erichalfbee]

Lemon grass fails sometimes if you put on the entrance. Bees like it but the queen doesn’t. Best just a couple of dots on a top bar. I paint the inside of my bait boxes with propolis.

 

[maddydog]

Lemon grass fails sometimes if you put on the entrance. Bees like it but the queen doesn’t. Best just a couple of dots on a top bar. I paint the inside of my bait boxes with propolis.

I didn't know that. I always thought the queen got swept along with the tide of bees.

 

[Roola]

Lemon grass oil is rubbish and a money making scam IMO , i have tried it many times and it did not work, when i realized it did not work i caught a swarm in a nuc using one frame of drawn foundation and no lemon grass oil, it smells nice though.

not true... I believe beekeepers in India and Pakistan swear by using crushed lemongrass as an attractant to catching bees there. I've always used Lemongrass oil and am successful in catching 5+ swarms per year. It is a great 'calling card' catches passing bees attention to where your bait hive is. I have a wild colony in the chimney next door and when i have topped up lemongrass in one of my bait hives I always get a few bees buzzing around me with interest if i go into back garden.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

??
I want them. I still need to buy and build a hive. Getting a swarm would give me the time to assemble one. Plus I am tight. Getting a colony for free would trump a purchased colony.

Sorry, I don’t understand your logic. Getting a swarm would require you have accommodation ready there and then not give you time to buy and assemble some.