Swarm traps/lures. Worthwhile?

[BeeJayBee]

#7 .....

Oops! I suppose it would have helped to read the whole thread instead of just the last few posts.

 

[sugarbush]

I have used Sono tube in the past for swarm traps. It is super cheap, holds up pretty good to wet weather and I don't care if they get vandalized like I do if I put out a nuc box. You can slide a few frames side by side in them and then just pull them out when you catch a swarm.

I started using these around 04 or 05 and posted about it on beesource... Now other people are doing it and you can find videos on youtube on doing so.

 

[Beesand]

Both my hives come from bait hives (one colony was combined with a cutout from the same property).
I'm planning on putting lots up come spring. South facing, high up in a tree 12-20 ft I think is the advice, old comb and lemon grass oil.
The bait hive I put up was in a pine tree. Have a feeling they like that tree.

I wonder if you may be on to something there as I collected two swarms from a pine tree last year? Lucky for me the tree belongs to my parents so I might well stick a bait hive up in it this spring!

 

[pargyle]

I wonder if you may be on to something there as I collected two swarms from a pine tree last year? Lucky for me the tree belongs to my parents so I might well stick a bait hive up in it this spring!

It's a Bee Tree ... there are those people who think that the bees find some geographic locations particularly attractive (some of us believe that this is due to the confluence of lay lines but that discussion has been well played out before on here).

It is, however, evident that bees do swarm to specific trees and locations year after year and often several different swarms in a year (regardless of the reason) - and it does not seem to be specific types of tree that are the attractant. You are lucky to have found a bee tree and a bait hive should be very successful.

 

[AugustC]

Definitely worth doing.
a box 20-40 litres, a six frame nuc works well. You can easily knock up a box to take tbe frames from OSB or ply. On in tol bar this is about 10 bars.
Entrance shape isnt important but not too big. A hole of 1/2 - 1" is good and can be easily plugged with a cork.
old brood frame is very effective, you only need a little.
Rub around the inside of the bait hive with a beeswax block.
put a few drops of lemongrass oil on a cotton wool ball in a small zip lock plastic bag and place inside the hive with the bag only a tiny bit open to stop it evapourating too quickly.
put a few more drops on the the entrance.
place the hive near a supply of water, propolis, and nectar. Facing south but shelter from extremes of weather.
1 - 5 metres up is best but make it easy to retrieve as they are somewhat heavier with bees in.
check weekly and don't open until you know it is occupied as you can spook scout bees

 

[pargyle]

I've not been able to find a UK supplier of Sonotubes ... I can see lots of uses for them and over there they appear to be sold (very cheaply) by just about every hardware store - very useful bit of kit !

 

[Anduril]

I've not been able to find a UK supplier of Sonotubes ... I can see lots of uses for them and over there they appear to be sold (very cheaply) by just about every hardware store - very useful bit of kit !

They are called piling tubes a company in Essex sell the cardboard tubes

 

[sugarbush]

Sonotube is a brandname. Any concrete supply co should have them. As stated they are for pouring concrete piers. As far as the 40 L magic number is concerned, the other handy thing about them is that the volume per foot is printed right on them for calculating volume of concrete needed to fill. So no matter which size you buy, you can quickly figure out the length that is equal to 40 L. For 12 inch it is 20 inches in length.

 

[pargyle]

They are called piling tubes a company in Essex sell the cardboard tubes

Thanks for that lead ...

http://www.essextubes.com/index.html

 

[Stiffy]

If I dont have a spare hive, I use adapted poly fish boxes which I get from local aquarium shop and they are free. I find the ones places as high as possible work best. With a couple of light bulbs they make a nice warming cabinet too.
S


Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[user 20297]

I was going to start a new thread, but spotted this. I'm probably jumping the gun a little given I'm far up North. But here's bait-hive No. 2 for this year, close to my bees and house. It's an Abelo BS deep, with a mucky, old drawn frame and a part drawn one from last year. The rest is filled with another nine frames with horizontal wires and starter strips of foundation.

I have another location in mind for number 3.......

 

[Boston Bees]

I was going to start a new thread, but spotted this. I'm probably jumping the gun a little given I'm far up North. But here's bait-hive No. 2 for this year, close to my bees and house. It's an Abelo BS deep, with a mucky, old drawn frame and a part drawn one from last year. The rest is filled with another nine frames with horizontal wires and starter strips of foundation.

I have another location in mind for number 3.......

View attachment 25080View attachment 25081

Mine went up today too. I want them up as much as an early warning system for potential swarms from my hives as much as to actually catch swarms (which I always assume I won't!). Same approach as you - one old comb, the rest foundationless/strips. Your tree location is good I think.

 

[user 20297]

Mine went up today too. I want them up as much as an early warning system for potential swarms from my hives as much as to actually catch swarms (which I always assume I won't!). Same approach as you - one old comb, the rest foundationless/strips. Your tree location is good I think.
View attachment 25085
View attachment 25084

Nice placements with excellent bracketry. Please keep us informed here when you hit the jackpot.

 

[drex]

I would not want to risk life and limb trying to get some of those down. I know Seeley says they prefer 5+ m above ground, but I value my bones. I place mine on the edge of my shed roofs, but find they use boxes on the ground just as much. It is a long time since we had bears in the UK

 

[Erichalfbee]

I would not want to risk life and limb trying to get some of those down. I know Seeley says they prefer 5+ m above ground, but I value my bones. I place mine on the edge of my shed roofs, but find they use boxes on the ground just as much. It is a long time since we had bears in the UK

Mine go at the edge of the potting shed roof and a field shelter. I know what you mean about getting them down.
We left a bait box on the potting shed because, "Dani liked watching the bees in the garden"
We moved them to the apiary in February ....... 14x12 with a super on top..... It caused me nightmares for weeks ahead.

 

[Antipodes]

I would not want to risk life and limb trying to get some of those down. I know Seeley says they prefer 5+ m above ground, but I value my bones. I place mine on the edge of my shed roofs, but find they use boxes on the ground just as much. It is a long time since we had bears in the UK

I read somewhere the other day, where Seeley said he doesn't put them up as high any more, being concerned about injury falling from ladders. I think he said only a metre or so up now.

 

[user 20297]

I read somewhere the other day, where Seeley said he doesn't put them up as high any more, being concerned about injury falling from ladders. I think he said only a metre or so up now.

...now you tell me.

 

[user 20297]

I would not want to risk life and limb trying to get some of those down. I know Seeley says they prefer 5+ m above ground, but I value my bones. I place mine on the edge of my shed roofs, but find they use boxes on the ground just as much. It is a long time since we had bears in the UK

I've put one of them on a tree which is multistemmed. It has a sort of pedestal because of the way it grew and the ground slopes away. The result is that it's quite high, from a bee's point of view, but I don't need ladders.
The one on the pine tree just required me to be three steps up a ladder. But if it works and the box feels heavy, I have a lightweight scaffold tower, permanently erected nearby.

Taking your point, the next three bait-hives I'm planning are going on the tin roof of an old shed, on a platform which used to support a raised summer-house and another on the side of an old timber garage just above a proposed site for a hive in my neighbour's rural garden.

Relating to that, if you let a swarm settle for a few days how do they respond if their ultimate resting place is on a stand within a couple of metres of the base of their capture location?

 

[Boston Bees]

Relating to that, if you let a swarm settle for a few days how do they respond if their ultimate resting place is on a stand within a couple of metres of the base of their capture location?

In that situation, don't let them settle for a few days. Move them the same evening they move in (or ASAP). You'll lose flying bees otherwise. Not fair on them.

Same for any trap within flying range of your apiary

 

[Murox]

I've put one of them on a tree which is multistemmed. It has a sort of pedestal because of the way it grew and the ground slopes away. The result is that it's quite high, from a bee's point of view, but I don't need ladders.
The one on the pine tree just required me to be three steps up a ladder. But if it works and the box feels heavy, I have a lightweight scaffold tower, permanently erected nearby.

Taking your point, the next three bait-hives I'm planning are going on the tin roof of an old shed, on a platform which used to support a raised summer-house and another on the side of an old timber garage just above a proposed site for a hive in my neighbour's rural garden.

Relating to that, if you let a swarm settle for a few days how do they respond if their ultimate resting place is on a stand within a couple of metres of the base of their capture location?

Why not just plonk a box on that then ?