Swarm traps/lures. Worthwhile?

[For want of a better word]

Do you feel the ley line is very significant in attracting swarms.

Yes I do !


I am also a Green Man.... if there is any significance there!
Does seem to go against my Molecular Ecologist Scientific background......

 

[MuswellMetro]

I'm seriously thinking of the flat roof on top of my mother's garage next year ... the fork in the cherry tree about 12 feet up was a real b....r to get the bait box into and out of ... without the added problem of bees !!

i have mine on a flat roof, but tie it down!!!!, i had my first one blown across the allotments behind my house

i use an old smelly brood box with solid floor, some old comb ,lemon grass and true geranium leaves rubbed on the inside , 20% chance but better than paying £150 for bees

try at least to put at least 4 frames of foundation in (some that smells of beeswax like KBS or premium and if it is just a ply box it needs to be brood bx size

 

[dickbowyer]

For what it is worth, in previous years i have used swarm lures and have had 3-4 swarms per year in to bait hives in my garden with some 8-10 hives/colonies close bye. This year i relied on lemon grass oil (LGO) alone and had one swarm only arrive. Nothing scientific/statistical in that but LGO certainly is attractive for scouts but not the same results. Might buy some more swarm lure for next year!

 

[Beeka]

"Or is your apiary some distance away ?"

The apiary is only at the top of the garden so i'm thinking it would be best to get them in their final position ASAP (good point about them being clean, the varroa having nowhere to hide, and treating them before they seal the brood)

Would a colony with foul brood be able to survive a few seasons?

I'll definitely try some kind of attractant as most people seem to have success with it and perhaps I should have a practice with getting a hive off the roof...through the bedroom window and down the stairs sounds like the best bet!

 

[lebouche]

Wow.. if you are ever down my way coffee and cake waiting .. I have a big oak tree that would be good but am not as nimble as you sound.

Sounds Great, Just not sure how you would get it down when they arrive!
Pines are easy to climb, much more so than Oaks due to the branch placement.
Hopefully will have occasion to take you up on the cake one fine day.

 

[pargyle]

Yes I do !


I am also a Green Man.... if there is any significance there!
Does seem to go against my Molecular Ecologist Scientific background......

OK ICANHOPIT ... as you've come out ... I'll come out ... I did a bit of dowsing before I sited my hive ... I've got happy, healthy bees ... just one more possible ingredient in the mix of magic of keeping bees.

Sadly, I didn't dowse around the tree where I put my bait hive last year (as I coulldn't move the tree !) but I sure will get the rods out before I put it out on Mum's garage roof this year.

Tin Hats On ... or should it be aluminium foil at the ready ???

 

[Tomo]

Thanks for all of your answers.
Can't wait for Spring now.
I will certainly try to scrounge some old comb too.

Thanks again.

 

[lebouche]

Does anyone think several swarm traps in the same tree would still work?
Just wondering...

 

[For want of a better word]

Does anyone think several swarm traps in the same tree would still work?
Just wondering...

Last year I had two swarm arrive at the same time and move into 2 bait hives adjacent to each other on the silver valley ley line....

In the shadow of Leith Hill near Dorking in Surrey there lived an old beekeeper whom I managed to befriend.
He had a tree in his garden he called "the bee tree". I saw three swarms in its branches at the same time one day in June ( 1976 ?).. the old chap had just hived one and the others were patiently awaiting his attention, none were swarms from his Langstroths.
I think the tree was a Strawberry tree as it had fruits on it later in the year.
No idea if the tree or the beekeeper is still there... if he is he will be well over 100 !

The point being that more than one swarm can arrive at the same place at the same time..... lure or not!

 

[Tomo]

I'm a little confused (which is my normal state if I'm honest!).
Some advice says "use drawn comb" in a trap others say "don't, as it attracts wax moth".
If I bait my new hives should I just use new frames and wired foundation to give a hive like aroma? If a swarming queen starts to lay in wild comb in a box how would I transfer the new brood to a hive with frames?

 

[pargyle]

I'm a little confused (which is my normal state if I'm honest!).
Some advice says "use drawn comb" in a trap others say "don't, as it attracts wax moth".
If I bait my new hives should I just use new frames and wired foundation to give a hive like aroma? If a swarming queen starts to lay in wild comb in a box how would I transfer the new brood to a hive with frames?

Hi again Tomo .... part of beekeeping is making the decisions after considering all the advice you are given ... there are always more answers to the questions and always more questions from the answers. The general consensus is that old comb is a good attractant, most of the earlier posters will agree I think.

You don't, normally, transfer the old comb you use to attract the bees to your hive ... if you re-read some of the earlier posts you will find that:

A) You should not leave the swarm in the bair box any longer than necessary,
B) Be prepared to do a shook swarm into the new hive or?
c) Put a couple of frames of foundation or frames with starter strips in the bait hive for them to start on, then you can just move them into your hive,

I'm having a bit of a groundhog day here ? Have you read everything that has been posted in response to your original question ?

I think I posted something about my 'varnish' of propolis in methylated spirits for the inside of bait boxes ... really smells like a well used hive ...

 

[Itchy]

Ley lines???? Sounds like hogwash to me

 

[Hivemaker.]

Ley lines???? Sounds like hogwash to me

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=8579

 

[Itchy]

Interesting thread, thanks

 

[BeeJayBee]

I'm a little confused (which is my normal state if I'm honest!).
Some advice says "use drawn comb" in a trap others say "don't, as it attracts wax moth".
If I bait my new hives should I just use new frames and wired foundation to give a hive like aroma? If a swarming queen starts to lay in wild comb in a box how would I transfer the new brood to a hive with frames?

You might enjoy reading Tom Seeley, Roger Morse and Richard Nowogrozski's paper titled "Bait Hives for Honey Bees". Link to pdf on >> Cornell University ecommons site <<, which has a lot of royalty free stuff for beekeepers.

The theory is that swarms prefer a box of 40 litres capacity. If you get a box that size, and fill it with frames containing either foundation or drawn comb you will reduce the capacity, so are less likely to attract a swarm.

The drawn comb is a lure, that's all. It provides a scent the bees recognise, and persuades them into the box to look around. Lemongrass oil does the same - it's similar to the nasanov pheromone, which is an attractant.

 

[pargyle]

#7 .....

 

[Excession]

Ley lines again...

Here's a link for people who don't believe in fairies:

http://www.skepdic.com/leylines.html

 

[For want of a better word]

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=8579

There will always be questions

John Harding suggests a reason .... the "natural frequency of the Earth"
I think there is a confusion about Ley lines... as the origin of the word was a descriptor for how the natural and built environment seemed to follow lines.

NOT Hogwash... but as yet unexplained by Science?



I will just sit on the fence!

 

[Excession]

You are probably right to sit on the fence, after all, as nobody has PROVED that fairies don't exist, means that they could exist...

And there is always some nice chap who can give a plausible, yet totally un provable theory to help thwart those nasty skeptic who want evidence!

Still, it sells books I suppose!

 

[Excession]

http://www.livescience.com/41349-ley-lines.html?cmpid=514645

Nice read, fairly balanced too (for those on the fence )