bakerjw
05-16-2021, 09:23 AM
The other day, I watched a video on youtube put together by Duck River Honey.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tK47OiXhHg
Several years back, I bought some bees from a shyster who was selling bees that he didn't have. The state got involved and it was a fiasco. I had a new hive and all I wanted was a colony of bees but was unable to obtain them at the time. Anyway, fast forward to a couple of weeks ago where there was a thread about keeping bees and it caused me to drag out my hives. In the past, we've had swarms pass through so I opted to set out a pair of 10 slot supers as swarm traps.
From the video by DRH, I liked his idea of building an empty box and placing it underneath a super that is full of frames with foundation installed. Swarms don't like tight places so that is why I am using an empty box below a super. Oftentimes when swarms set up in a typical swarm trap they start building honeycomb and it requires some work to get it integrated into standard frames. So I built 2 large empty boxes and put a 10 slot super on top of each on both ends of our property. To lure in and swarms, I'm using lemongrass oil. There are some pheromone lures on the market but not all of them that I've seen seem to be legitimate.
Typically bees swarm from April through May; however, our weather has been quite cool so I would be presuming that it might run a little later this year. With warmer weather ahead, I hope that I will catch the attention of a swarm and they'll take up housekeeping. In a worst case scenario, I'll manage to get 2 swarms and will then have to pick up some additional supers and other assorted pieces.
Pics to come later.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tK47OiXhHg
Several years back, I bought some bees from a shyster who was selling bees that he didn't have. The state got involved and it was a fiasco. I had a new hive and all I wanted was a colony of bees but was unable to obtain them at the time. Anyway, fast forward to a couple of weeks ago where there was a thread about keeping bees and it caused me to drag out my hives. In the past, we've had swarms pass through so I opted to set out a pair of 10 slot supers as swarm traps.
From the video by DRH, I liked his idea of building an empty box and placing it underneath a super that is full of frames with foundation installed. Swarms don't like tight places so that is why I am using an empty box below a super. Oftentimes when swarms set up in a typical swarm trap they start building honeycomb and it requires some work to get it integrated into standard frames. So I built 2 large empty boxes and put a 10 slot super on top of each on both ends of our property. To lure in and swarms, I'm using lemongrass oil. There are some pheromone lures on the market but not all of them that I've seen seem to be legitimate.
Typically bees swarm from April through May; however, our weather has been quite cool so I would be presuming that it might run a little later this year. With warmer weather ahead, I hope that I will catch the attention of a swarm and they'll take up housekeeping. In a worst case scenario, I'll manage to get 2 swarms and will then have to pick up some additional supers and other assorted pieces.
Pics to come later.