commercial swarm lures: Useful or useless?

[B+.]

There are plenty of bees around us so I was wondering about putting a nuc out with lemongrass oil on frames with foundation. It probably won't work but you never know.

Bees are undoubtedly attracted to the smell of wax (especially on a warm day) so it is worth giving it a try with foundation.
A swarm would have less work to do with drawn comb so, if you know any local beekeepers, it might be worth asking for a spare old comb to help get you started.

 

[drex]

I'm so new I don't even have any bees - yet. Nor do I have any comb of course. There are plenty of bees around us so I was wondering about putting a nuc out with lemongrass oil on frames with foundation. It probably won't work but you never know.

We have a large south facing garden but we also have a flat area outside an upstairs window at the back of the house - ie it's at some height which I guess it a better place to attract a swarm.

The question is - if I struck lucky I would then need to move the nuc down into the garden. (I don't fancy climbing out of the bathroom window on a regular basis.) So I assume that means I would have to move the nuc over 3 miles away before then later bringing it back to the garden position?

Or is there another way to move them off the roof into the garden?

Or just put the nuc in the garden to begin with?

If you move the swarm within a day of them moving in you do not need to worry about the three mile bit. It takes them some time to learn the location of home.

 

[taurus]

That is handy to know. I work from home so come April I'll put the nuc outside the bathroom window and then I can keep an eye on it on a daily basis.

 

[jeff33]

That 3ft or 3 miles is a funny one. One of my hive swarmed last summer, caught it and placed it 6ft away from the original hive without any problem. If you don't have any bees the swarm will have traveled a certain distance so I wouldn't worry. The only thing you will need to do is place it in a more permanent or bigger nuc if it is a big swarm.

 

[BrianO]

Tried to no avail last year to entice a swarm, had a few Bait hives out, old comb, lemongrass oild, propolised crown boards.

One feral colony in situ over 2 years was set to try and catch a swarm but they ignored completely my brood box setup. In fact a cast swarm landed feet away from it and decamped for two days to a bush.

Though in hindsight and after further investigation I have identified two errors.

1. Bait hive was to low , needs as mentioned above to be optimally 6' or more.

2.Had OMF's on both , have read this is a No No for Swarm collection/luring. This is not mentioned above any experience regarding this ?

 

[B+.]

Tried to no avail last year to entice a swarm

The best way that I have found to attract a swarm is to make sure all of your equipment is in use. It usually works for me!

 

[Into the lions den]

In fact a cast swarm landed feet away from it and decamped for two days to a bush.
2.Had OMF's on both , have read this is a No No for Swarm collection/luring. This is not mentioned above any experience regarding this ?

Snipped post...

Cast/castes often take days to settle. Catch them from a bush before they are ready then there is a tendency to vacate the box. If you try to hive a caste you should place a bar of open brood in it. This tends to pin them, usually but not invariably. They take time to settle because they often, even normally, have multiple virgins in them, and they will hang on a bush or wherever until they have had their big sort out and are ready.

Have no really noticeable issues with swarms declining to go to OMF hives. The effect may be real, but if it is its no huge issue.

 

[Vortex]

POH's posts pretty much echo the results of Tom Sealey's work .. don't know if it's covered in his new book but it was certainly discussed when he was at the NHS a few years ago.

 

[For want of a better word]

Bees are undoubtedly attracted to the smell of wax (especially on a warm day)

Empty hive next to the solar melter always attracts a swarm.... but then it is also on a Ley line... under my favorite bee tree!

Yeghes da

 

[Erichalfbee]

It helps having a beekeeper nearby who is lax in his swarm control

 

[Fraise]

Swarm lures do seem to attract Scout bees but that is pointless unless they like your bait hive.

I have only had success at attracting swarms with redundant old kit which was destined to be firewood and having solid floors. It seems the bees like something which has been well used before.

I tried putting old (black) frames in a nearly new box with OMF and saw many visits from the scouts but the swarms never arrived.
Was it the OMFs which put them off?

 

[Into the lions den]

I'm so new I don't even have any bees - yet. Nor do I have any comb of course. There are plenty of bees around us so I was wondering about putting a nuc out with lemongrass oil on frames with foundation. It probably won't work but you never know.

In reference to the above, you do know its considered very unfriendly to place bait hives close to other beekeepers bees?

I have seen that go VERY badly, with the bait hives being set fire to by the irate owner of the hives, and once I had a couple of empties left in a place unaware that another beekeeper had placed six hives on the other side of a strip wood............he was out walking and saw my two empties (load was full, was coming back for them later) and destroyed them by smashing them up, leaving the wreckage and a 'loving note' scrawled on the metal of a broken roof.

So, the ethical thing to do at first is buy a nucleus, so you have bees yourself and cannot stand accused of wanting to get someone elses for nothing.

However.......it *IS* nice when a prime swarm arrives and sets up home with you and you have no idea where it came from (or wont admit you know), even on my scale....lol

Sometimes it can be very odd........we run a parallel colour code for queens of origins we don't want to be unaware of when doing examinations.........it goes purple, silver, orange, pink, gold. We sometimes use these on sold queens. Was very pleasant, if a tad embarrassing, when we got three incoming swarms with orange queens in them. A guy I sold a stack to the year before had an apiary he dropped off within half a mile of our honeyhouse. Poetic justice.

 

[Erichalfbee]

When I lived in Cumbria I kept my bees in my neighbours field. The field was partly wooded and the boundary was a dry stone wall. One day a bait hive appeared on top of the wall. I simply walked over and shut the entrance. It was opened a couple of times then one day after I had shut it for the third time it disappeared

 

[taurus]

The nearest hives I know of are some distance away, but I've seen swarms flying past over the past couple of summers so there are bees around. Our garden also attracts plenty of bees.

How far is considered "not friendly?" The nearest hive I know of is about a mile away.

 

[Millet]

The nearest hives I know of are some distance away, but I've seen swarms flying past over the past couple of summers so there are bees around. Our garden also attracts plenty of bees.

How far is considered "not friendly?" The nearest hive I know of is about a mile away.

I would say about 3ft away..

 

[Erichalfbee]

How far is considered "not friendly?" The nearest hive I know of is about a mile away.

Twenty feet away on the wall in my case

 

[For want of a better word]

When I lived in Cumbria I kept my bees in my neighbours field. The field was partly wooded and the boundary was a dry stone wall. One day a bait hive appeared on top of the wall. I simply walked over and shut the entrance. It was opened a couple of times then one day after I had shut it for the third time it disappeared

a few drops of Cymbopogon winterianus would sort the bait hive out!

Yeghes da

 

[taurus]

Well having looked through the local names in handbook and taken the trouble to knock on their doors and introduce myself to them and find out where their hives are I think I've done as much as possible not to encroach on existing beekeepers.

 

[pargyle]

The nearest hives I know of are some distance away, but I've seen swarms flying past over the past couple of summers so there are bees around. Our garden also attracts plenty of bees.

How far is considered "not friendly?" The nearest hive I know of is about a mile away.

If the bait hive is in your garden or your established apiary then that's fair game .. what is frowned on is the beekeeper that puts a bait hive out in the same field or the other side of the fence to where you have your bees, even with permission - it's more about the deliberate effort to entrap swarms from your hives than the actual distance. Bit of common sense should tell you what's reasonable and what's being a chancer ...

 

[Millet]

If the bait hive is in your garden or your established apiary then that's fair game .. what is frowned on is the beekeeper that puts a bait hive out in the same field or the other side of the fence to where you have your bees, even with permission - it's more about the deliberate effort to entrap swarms from your hives than the actual distance. Bit of common sense should tell you what's reasonable and what's being a chancer ...

Surely though its the original apiary owners fault for allowing the bees to swarm in the first place.