Swarm traps and bait hives download youtube

Honey bee suite is dedicated to honey bees, beekeeping, wild bees, other pollinators, and pollination ecology. Jun 25, 2015 bait hives are just that a bait or type of lure designed to attract a swarm of honey bees that are looking for a new home. In this video im hanging a swarm trap for the first time not exactly how it is normally done but i had an extra box and frames so lets give it a try cant hurt. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Often for about a week before a colony swarms, it sends out scout bees to find a new home.

For beekeepers it satisfies the same urge fishing does for fishermen. Perfect for those who cannot inspect their hives regularly. Most years i catch two or three swarms, sometimes more. Swarm traps can be time consuming and expensive to make, but in order to. I have bought these swarm traps that are made from a moulded fibre material that should last several years and is designed to be like the hollow of a tree. This video is the complete guide to building a swarm trap for honey bees. Instead of a swarm leaving one of your hives and flying off into the sunset, a bait box can provide an easy way to lure them and prevent a loss of bees.

All of the hives originated from swarms caught using swarm traps bait hives in the surrounding wilderness. Learn how to build a simple swarm trap from inexpensive plywood. The most popular seemed to be a pressed cardboard flower pot. A month or so ago, jason from letmbee mailed me one of his swarm traps to try out. Just understand that a swarm box trap is no guarantee that a swarm will use it. This is helpful if you are gone at the time the swarm issues from one of your hives. And hey, its also called a bait hive, just to add to the confusion. When you are choosing a place for your swarm trap, think about how you are going to get it down with bees and some honey inside. Swarm trapping on the survival podcast air date 93120.

Making inexpensive swarm traps from plant pots youtube. Although we shouldnt try to humanise bees, there are several criteria that seem attractive to them, some being. A lot of the same information is found in the also excellent honeybee democracy, but that book requires concerted effort to get through, while swarm traps and bait hives can easily be read in an hour. Use swarm traps to capture feral bees for beekeeping. The easy way to get bees for free book online at best prices in india on. I built some honey bee swarm traps, or bait hives, to try to capture any bee swarms that came out of the beehives in our beeyard. Simply attach a closed swarm lure envelope to the lid on the inside of the swarm trap with a.

D actually from my research, whether its a round paper, a wooden box, cardboard, or plastic, its still called a swarm trap or bait hive unless one of the names is ed. Plywood honey bee swarm bait catch hive and nucleus box. Creating a depository of local honey bee strains from. These tubes, though theyre costly, will more than pay for a swarm of honeybees when you compare the cost of the pheromone to the cost of a threepound package of bees. So, its time to set out your swarm traps, if you havent already. Everything you need to know about catching honey bee swarms.

I recently built a swarm trap aka bait hive to attract and capture a swarm of bees. Based on the fact that bees will occupy a cavity of about 40 liters, a swarm trap is made to create the ideal space for a wild swarm to occupy. It helps to elevate the bait box swarm trap about eight feet in the air and insert frames of foundation. When used in conjunction with a swarm lure, swarming honeybees find our swarm traps irresistible. Springtime is finally here, and honeybees, both wild and managed, are working on fulfilling their evolutionary purpose strengthening the colony, making a new queen, and reproducing the superorganism through swarming. I have used many different styles of traps, hung them a variety of ways, and used several types of bait lure. Swarm traps, also called bait hives or bait boxes, are used to capture feral bees. How to catch swarms treatmentfree beekeeping podcast swarm traps baiting and staging. All but 6 traps have been baited and staged, out of the way. It seems the general guidance is 45l trap placed 1015ft up facing southeast on a treeline. I usually leave a couple of empty boxes in likely spots to act as bait hives, primarily to catch swarms from my own colonies but with the concentration of beekeepers in the kenilworthcoventry area possibly to attract a swarm someone else has lost. Bee hive inspections for beginners video an interactive exercise by carolina.

Bait hives need to be checked regularly, so close to your home is best. This is the most passive way of catching a swarm put up some bait hives in likely places, and cross your fingers. Warm it in your hand, then rub the inside walls and bottom of the swarm trap. Learn all about how to make your own swarm traps and bait hives.

Swarm trap locations ive read far and wide about swarm trap placement, and as they say, ask 10 beekeepers a question and youll get a dozen answers. Swarm traps, or bait hives are basically boxes you place around near your bees, offering them as convenient homes for new bee swarms. Prior to the actual swarm casting from a robust colony, the scout bees have been busy checking out potential locations for the future swarm to call home. Not only do the bees not occupy the traps optimally, but wax moths make a huge mess of the thing, destroying your nice bait comb. I put every swarm i catch in them but as a bait hive i have poor luck.

I suggest you guys check out swarm traps and bait hives by mccartney taylor. The complete guide to building a swarm trap or bait hive episode 2 duration. Likewise with swarm traps, you start with zero and by incorporating the aspects of swarm trapping you see below, youll find a greater and greater proportion of traps will catch swarms every year. The beekeeping supply catalogs offer little tubes of nasanov pheromones. The traps are based off of langstroth nucleus hives and are 40 liters in volume. Swarm trap catches the queen as she tries to leave during a swarm. As an extra allurement, you can add a swarm bait to your bait hive the idea being that the scout bees will detect your bait hive and be attracted by the smell, and then decide that your bait hive is just what they were looking for.

But this is a difference between capturing a trapping. Build your own swarm safe beehive box this swarm trap hive or bait hive is really easy to make, and when it is not in use as a swarm hive it could also be used as a short term 5 frame nucleus transport hive or a hive to house a split. Jul 15, 2011 the definitive guide to catching free bees using swarm traps and bait hives. Outofabluesky, which is the largest beekeeping channel on youtube. Indeed, it is our duty as a club to capture swarms and keep them from bothering the populous that are scared and annoyed by a swarm of bees.

Your options are to go the natural route, or to get a pheromonedriven one from a beekeeping store. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading swarm traps and bait hives. This book is very short, but thats just because the author opted to write clearly rather than padding the text with extraneous wordage. Swarm traps and bait hives and millions of other books are available for instant access. The complete guide to building a swarm trap or bait hive youtube.

Swarm traps baiting and staging letmbee blogletmbee blog. They are constructed of a molded fiber material that will hold up through the many swarm seasons, mimicking the hollow of a tree, which is a favorite home of swarms. Once built, the swarm trap can be hung from a tree to catch wild honeybees. It measures inches tall by 14 inches wide on the lid.

The swarm trap is empty now so it is ok for the goats to participate. One had a vial of swarm lure and 5 foundationless frames and the other had one old brood comb and 4 foundationless frames no swarm lure. A lot of care goes into choosing and selecting the equipment and bait in hopes of finding the right combination which will most closely match the criteria the bees are looking for in a new home. Look to be putting your bait hives out towards the end of april.

This is a comprehensive discussion about swarm traps. There are lots of commercial swarm traps available, however, they all seemed flimsy and lacking in longevity. I decided to draw a design for a bait hive after repeated failures with two of the commercial flowerpot shaped swarm traps. Mar 19, 2017 replacing swarm trap pots with bait hives with standard foundationless deep frames for easier swarm removal. What would happen if i bait a swarm trap with one spray of swarm commander, that already has one or two scout bees. Propolis is also used to make tinctures for human consumption due to its strong antimicrobial properties. Simply attach a closed swarm lure envelope to the lid on the inside of the swarm trap with a thumb tack or staple. Be sure to put a frame of open brood in there when capturing a swarm to ensure they dont leave. Propolis is used to scent the swarm trap to make it more attractive to swarms.

My goal was to capture bees that were trying to build a hive in my house and transfer them to my top bar bee hive. Generally you want traps spread in all directions several hundred feet if not yards from the hives to have the best results. When swarming, honeybees prefer the cubic volume of a 5 frame nucleus box which is the approximate size of this swarm trap. Better to put it on other hives or store it in a way that keeps wax moths at bay. The time of honey bee swarming allows opportunities for beekeepers to get free bees.

Transferring honey bees from a bait hive to a proper deep hive but i. Protecting honey bees against yellow jackets pdf wsu fact. Jan 18, 2010 the biology after bees swarm and the methods used to capture wild swarms using bait hives. Jan 03, 2016 pairs of new 30l swarm traps where put at each location. Im trying to put out as many bait hives i can before the feral honey bees start swarming. You might want to try going on youtube and watching some videos, there are lots of them. I made a few nonpermanent modifications to a nuc hive box and placed it in a tree. It might catch them if they swarm however, or might not.

I have been using two of the commercially available flowerpot shaped swarm traps for years. Bait hives are just that a bait or type of lure designed to attract a swarm of honey bees that are looking for a new home. Bait hives attracting honey bee swarms dave cushman. So far this season ive captured two, both swarms from my own hives. Bait hives, bee swarms and swarm traps, beekeeping 101. This design is based off a traditional top bar hive design.

Ironically ive had poor luck with 5 frame nuc boxes as swarm traps. Just do a search for swarm traps, a few of my favorites are, out of a blue sky or jp the beeman, jason chrisman, jason bruns. Learn how to use an old hive evidently bees prefer old wood and essential oil to bait it and help trap a bee swarm so that you will have a free swarm come spring we decided to put a few bait hives around the farm to attract any passing swarms. February is a great time to start building swarm traps and setting bait hives ready for swarm season to catch a free swarm. Attracting a honey bee swarm to a swarm trap carolina. It all started when jason went on a beekeeping rant on his blog which covered many of his grievances on current beekeeping practices. These boxes can be used nuc boxes, wood pulp containers, buckets, or whatever container you can devise. We carry all the beekeeping supplies you need to keep your bees healthy and producing honey.

Every year i put swarm traps in the trees and place bait hives around the property. Beekeeping links snohomish county washington state university. I have this box connected to a rope that allows me to raise and lower it with ease. Swarm traps and bait hives kindle edition by taylor, mccartney. Then maybe none at all, if the swarm chooses a different location. A bait hive is a hive, usually with some drawn comb that is set up to attract a swarm during the swarming season.

The more bait hives the more chance of catching a swarm. If youre a beekeeper, or an aspiring beekeeper, you can catch your own honeybees using a bait hive. Providing you the best beekeeping equipment, products and knowledge since 1976, we offer everything you need, from beginner kits to get started or advanced tools and equipment to expand your established yards. Each year i hang them up at the recommended height 812 feet and facing the recommended direction south or southeast. Bait hives maarec publication 3 university of delaware. How to bait a swarm trap to catch free bees youtube. But some swarm will choose your bait hive, and you will get the swarms you need. You may get lucky enough to find a bee swarm hanging in a tree.

Im a big fan of taylors youtube videos and web site. I include all of the specific measurements along with a tutorial on how. The definitive guide to catching free bees using swarm traps and bait hives. Putting out more bait hives for swarm season youtube. I built this 3 frame bait hive using reclaimed wood picked up at the habitat. Bait hives, or swarm traps are a great way to get free bees. A swarm in may is worth a load of hay etc in the 20 season, from five hives i. Replacing swarm trap pots with bait hives with standard foundationless deep frames for easier swarm removal. It is set up to entice the swarm to establish in it so you can then move them to a permanent hive. Get your kindle here, or download a free kindle reading app. Trapping a swarm of bees can help you increase the size of your apiary, and give you a strong bee colony. Yep, that link above gets you to my new book on swarm traps and bait hives.

A swarm trap or bait hive can get very heavy in a hurry. Bait hives also known as swarm lures or swarm traps for seeley and morses criteria for designing bait hives please scroll down to the bottpom of this page. Build your own swarm safe beehive box the practical beekeeper. Honey bee suite is dedicated to honey bees, beekeeping, wild bees, other. The simplest idea is to use baited decoy hives, more recently identified as swarm traps. Jun 26, 2012 new swarm trap and swarm trapping the letmbee way. You can bait the boxes with old comb, but this will also attract wax moths. The one hive we had last year was a swarm that moved by its own accord into an empty box we had around.

The box to attract the bees called bait hive or swarm trap is basically any watertight wooden or plywood box with a volume of 40 to 70 liters 10 to 18 gallons and a twosquareinch entrance towards the bottom of one wall. How to transfer a whole lot of bees from a bait hive to a new deep hive. Swarm catching using bait hives bridgend beekeepers. Of the 11 locations, eight caught swarms and all chose the old brood comb over swarm lure. How far away from my hives would i need to keep a swarm trap to keep from encouraging my own hives to swarm.

In addition to just being fun, there are many practical uses for bait boxes. But its better to manage them so they dont swarm to begin with. Our swarm lure emits a slowrelease blend of pheromones that attracts the swarm and entices the scout bees to declare the swarm trap a suitable new home. Jan 07, 20 the article documents how to use a nuc as a swarm trap. Spring is just around the corner even if there is several inches of snow on the ground.