commercial swarm lures: Useful or useless?

[madasafish]

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

You'll upset "natural" beekeepers saying that

 

[Millet]

You'll upset "natural" beekeepers saying that

I'm sorry for upsetting you,

 

[mbc]

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.

3ft or 3 miles doesnt apply to swarms.

 

[Plenty of honey]

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?

All my swarm traps are ones with no OMF. I don't know why but they just don't seem to like it. If i run out of replacement traps, i cut a slate, so i can slide it in from the inside and close off the floor.

Don't forget, that during swarm preparations a neighbours hives may well send out scout bees and then the annoying beekeeper intervenes and all goes quiet and you think they have gone elsewhere. Well they might have done or they might have just lots their swarming impulse.
Frequently in the past, i have spend ages watching scout bees and made an extra trip to hopefully catch the moment the whole swarm arrives, but most of the time its just after and their all flitting their wings on the front of the box. It is a wonderful spectacle, the air filled with the delightful smell of Nasanov. its a good excuse not to get on with what actually pays the bills!!
Excuse the quality of the clip, i was hanging off the adjacent drain pipe. The things you do!

https://youtu.be/f7TENvuAzSs

 

[bontbee]

...I have only had success at attracting swarms with redundant old kit which was destined to be firewood...

I agree. One year I got back from an out apiary, dumped the spare kit on the patio and, being parched, went to make a cup of tea. Twenty minutes later, max, there was a swarm.

A few years back, I'd stacked all my old, "emergency" stuff (the really old bit and bobs that are press-ganged in a real emergency - should have been firewood, but I just hate throiwing stuff away!!) in a pile, out of the way for a new shed to be installed. Lo and behold, just as the shed builders arrived, so did a swarm. In fact, this stack attracted three swarms in a week. One I "diverted" to a nuc, the other two established happily in the same stack, one above the other.

Shed man in the background in pic two - MOST impressed! And I should've probably put last pic first...

Oh, meant to say, the lower of the two swarms had only empty frames to build on, no wax at all, (the frames were butted up, cheek by jowl, waiting to be rewaxed. But, despite no foundation as a guide, they built beautifully straight comb, mostly spanning two frames at a time.

 

[bjosephd]

So this was set up before I knew all that much but had read various things and tried various others...

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CG5VuEDWwAIXY_p.jpg

2 (brand new) national BBs as a 'cavity'... mostly empty aside from 2 old brood frames and an empty honey super (which I know probably is not a healthy idea).

It also had a Mann Lake swarm lure in it (or two actually!). And also some other swarm lure my mate got off ebay splashed on a a frame of foundation inside.

Open mesh floor with inspection board in and, as you can see, entrance reduced.

You will see also that it is approximately 20 inches off the ground in a nice sheltered afternoon sun trap.

(not sure why there is a piece of foundation lying next to it, but no doubt they like the smell of that in the sun!)

I was sadly away at work when they arrived, but my brother was there to take the picture and experience the apocalypse now style arrival of the swarm.

Bees had been fighting at the entrance for days and I believe that once a scout finds a top notch place they stick around and defend. I should have swiftly moved it and put a new box there for any other scouting swarms in da hood that might have come later!

 

[taurus]

So there are some good theories - but bees seem not to know them. Maybe I stand a chance then.

 

[Swarm]

Maybe the bees are trying to tell us something, with their penchant for crappy, old, firewood hives?

 

[pargyle]

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

Any beekeeper who tells you he's NEVER lost a swarm ... hasn't got any bees or they are telling you porkies ...

Deliberately setting a bait hive next to someone's existing apiary - regardless of whether their bees are allowed to swarm is just not the done thing ... it's not just 'natural' beekeepers that would be miffed ...

 

[pargyle]

Maybe the bees are trying to tell us something, with their penchant for crappy, old, firewood hives?

And why do some compost bins attract swarms ? and some trees ? and some fence posts ?

http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/leylines.html

 

[Erichalfbee]

And why do some compost bins attract swarms ? and some trees ? and some fence posts ?

http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/leylines.html

Yes strange that. You would think those to be quite inhospitable places. I once spotted bees checking out a compost bin so quickly put a bait hive on top of it and an hour later I had a swarm in it

 

[Plenty of honey]

And why do some compost bins attract swarms ? and some trees ? and some fence posts ?

http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/leylines.html

Thanks Pargyle, i had never read much about Ley lines. it was a fascinating read. I want to make some diving rods and try them out. Personally i would never discredit anything like this. I am sure there more to it than what we all collectively know or understand already.
It might help improve my swarm trapping rates. I am also going to test the places i have caught more swarms over the years, to see if they have lay lines across them or near to them.
My old beekeeping teacher in Dinan has a friend who is a "Geobiologist" and between them they trap swarms. Very interesting subject indeed!!

 

[Anduril]

When I first moved into my new house it seemed to be a swarm flight path. Every year without fail a few swarms flew overhead. One year a swarm landed right outside a neighbours house, they were trapped for half an hour before they could leave the house through the front door. I was out at the time so couldn't collect it. For the last few years I have placed bait hives in the back garden and catch at least 3 swarms a year this way with black comb inside. I've thought about using a small solar panel with a fan attached to it to gently waft the smell of the comb out of the bait hive to see if it increased the success rate, maybe this year.

 

[Fatbee]

And why do some compost bins attract swarms ? and some trees ? and some fence posts ?

http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/leylines.html

A local beek to me had to go and do a swarm removal from a dog poo bin. Dedication to the swarm collectors cause that one

 

[Poly Hive]

I took a lovely big swarm out of a compost bin two years ago, it filled a poly Lang side to side, one of the biggest I have had the good luck to take.

PH

 

[Into the lions den]

Most silly request was from a woman who called to tell me....no kidding....that she had a problem with her tits. She could not get them to go inside.

Then it transpired that their box had been invaded by bees. A swarm had arrived that morning and now the tits will not go back inside.

It was only a couple of miles away and on my way to a bee site we were due to do that day anyway, so I agreed to visits all geared up to catch a swarm that was going to be small if it fitted inside a nest box.

It was bumble bees with a well established nest.....I guess the co tenants had stopped getting along fine. Looked like the tits were the new arrivals, as there were no eggs or chicks in the box.

Been called to all manner of things....of course you deal with ...you are a beekeeper! Charge MONEY???? surely you will get the honey? Even had folk want to charge ME for the objects they wanted disposed of. Sometimes it is swarms, but its equally often wasps, then there are bumble bees of various hues, wood wasps, mason bees, leafcutter bees, various flies, hoverflies, winged ants, and even bats. Fortunately no hornets up here.
Have been threatened with a lawyer if I don't deal with things for them.......and this included wasps and the bats! Not to mention the folk over 300 miles away that would not accept that as an excuse for not coming.

But most annoying of all was the heartfelt plea to come and deal with a swarm. It had arrived in their garden and it had been stinging their baby outside and one of their dogs was having to be taken to the vet. It would be easy to catch as it was in a low hanging bush in their front garden. Felt sorry for the people so I left the team and drove the hour it took to get to the peoples house, an isolated former farmhouse in the middle of nowhere.

On the way up the drive a tatty van I thought I recognised went past me leaving the place. I thought it was another beekeeper from som distance away. I got to the farmhouse and could see no swarm. A couple came out and told me they were sorry but I was too late, another beekeeper came just a few minutes after they called me and collected it. Upon further inquiry it turned out they had no baby, no dogs, and had told everyone that to get people to come quickly. They had called every beekeeper they could get a number for......at least 10 of us. When I 'expressed my unhappiness' and the hours of work and cash coming to their aid had cost, and why did they not call me back when the swarm was collected to save me the trip me they told me that was my problem. Still fizzing I was on my way down their drive when I met another beekeeper from Perth on his way in to collect this nuisance swarm. They had called his wife at home, and expressed how much of an emergency it was, and she got in touch with him at work and he saw his employers and explained the situation and was given time off to go help out. The air was blue when I told him what had transpired.

Makes you very suspicious of swarm calls..........

I sent the couple a bill. I charged them for everything I could think of just to make a point of what they had cost me....and probably others too. Included fuel, van costs, hours of my time, lost production from not getting my own bees done. They never paid it of course and all we got was a very cheeky letter back but it at least got some frustration off my chest. Not worth suing them for it, and could not have made it stick anyway.

For all that gripe, the vast majority are very appreciative that you go out of their way to help and are actually fascinated to watch you at work.

 

[jeff33]

I think the ley lines theory could be fit for a Phd! It is fascinating how bees can navigate themselves and the same for migratory birds. We are to a certain extent doing the same by using compass but they must have something other than landmarks, polarity and the sun. Has anyone looked into polarity of ley lines to see if there is a correlation?

 

[wessexmario]

Ley lines are just pseudo-scientific twaddle. I'm continually astounded that otherwise intelligent people believe in things that are irrational and have no possible scientific basis.