Earlier I put out three bait hives in the woods and pulled two swarms from them. That was two weeks ago. Today I went and checked again. I have two bait hives out. One is has a lot of traffic in and out, looks like another swarm! I caught one large swarm in this same area two weeks ago. This bait hive is about 300 yards away from there. There must be a bee tree in the area but I have not found it. There are several large maples in this area of the woods that are 3 feet through with large broken limbs that have hollows. I had no idea I would catch swarms like this. Makes me wonder why I bought packages this spring. I now have six hives, started this spring with one that wintered over. I have given one swarm to a friend of mine and have two other people that will take one if I catch more. I am going to wait a week to bring in this last one. The other bait hive I have out I am sure just has leftover bees in it from when I pulled the box last time. I will bring it home and combine it back with the large swarm that I caught there the first time. Then I am going to put out two more bait hives somewhere else out in the woods. It is strange though. Until last year no one around here ever saw a honey bee? Over at my dads where the woods and swamp are they still don't see honey bees around the house or on there flowers? However all these swarms are within a quarter to a half mile of them? I am thinking that this winter I will be making my own boxes. Maybe six more and some nucs. How hard would it be to sell nucs if I had them? Or should I just limit myself to the bees here now? If they all do well and make it through the year I don't even know yet what I will do with all the honey they could produce. guess I could make a lot of friends sweet gifts on the holidays! This is pretty cool. Expensive as I bought twelve deeps and twelves supers so far along with bottom boards and covers. Going to be making them myself from now on. Cool huh!
Awesome!
Good job. I've got a few traps out myself and have yet to have any success. I'd love to hear more about how you are doing it (i.e. type of trap, location, type of attractant, & old drawn out frames added in, etc).
I've placed two traps, one nuc and one purchased trap close to existing hives, one in a tree another in a wall, hoping to catch a swarm if they leave. The nuc has some old frames with drawn comb with some lemongrass oil for attracting them, and the purchased trap, just has lemongrass oil.
Keep the info coming, I'd love to learn how to get lucky and catch a swarm...although, it doesn't sound like yours is all luck.
Personally, I like the idea of adding to the gene pools, freebee's or purchased.
harvey,
That's awesome...........I live in Holly, Mi.
I've been hoping to pickup a swarm too, just to have the experience alone would be very cool.
I stacked 2 nucs and put them on top of my pole barn which is tucked in the woods...nothing yet.
Recently picked up a couple of deeps just haven't had the chance to put them out.
When I got into beekeeping 3 yrs ago, I was told there were no feral honeybees in mi. maybe that's not the case anymore.
You may have a beekeeper nearby that you don't know about, perhaps there not managing them anymore and they keep throwing off swarms.
Good Luck,
Paul
I am currently putting out three swarm traps or bait hives. One is a dadent deep the other two I built from scratch the same size as the dadent deep. I put one old drawn out frame in each plus nine frames that are foundationless with just starter strips. I put a pheramone vial in each the first time stapled to a frame. I then put four or five drops of lemon grass oil on the face of the hive. I used 1/4 inch ply to make bottoms and tops and screwed them on. I drilled a 3/4 inch hole in the front of the dadent deep. The other two I cut a 3/8 or maybe a little bigger, (same size as a reducer entrance) by about four inche grove in the bottom of the face board. I hung the traps back in the woods just using a rope. I hoisted them up about 15 to twenty feet and used another rope on the bottom to help reduce them from swaying. I go back about three days later and there are bees crawling all over the hives and flying in and out. So far two nice swarms and one that barely fit in the dadent deep! My last swarm I didn't have any pheramone just the lemon grass oil.
Next year, put out a dozen traps. They are out there. If you build the traps, they will come.
Just not sure what to do with all the bees? I was thinking maybe 3 to 5 hives? I can see that number doubling this year, I only started with one! Should have bought stock in Dadent before I started! Not sure now should I build some more boxes and keep putting the swarm traps out or let the swarms find trees and know they are in the area next year? How do you know when to stop?
I'd ask myself what I would need to do for them to stay alive til spring of next year? Do you think they'll make it?
Would they have made it if they hadn't entered the bait hives? My intention is to not do anything. If they are serviving on there own in the wild then why would I have to treat them or give them special care? I am putting them all on starter strips so they build comb their way and their size. I will give them all two deeps for brood and honey. Then when they are ready I will super. If anything ends up in the supers I will call that mine. Other than that I am going to see what not feeding them (sugar is bad!) and not treating them (they don't get that in the woods) will do for me. If I loose some hives I guess that it was ment to bee and I will try for more swarms next year. I am just thinking that man has really screwed a lot of stuff up,(Japanese beetles, golf of mexico, pbt), all kinds of stuff that we try and improve on get screwed up and we don't seem to be able to fixem. So I am going to try and let the bee's keep there smaller comb and size and see if they are healthier without treatments. No one heard of mites being a problem till they started fumigating the hives did they? All this requeening? Don't bee's requeen when they feel they need to? I really don't know what I am talking about but I don't see any harm in not giving them un-natural stuff and chemicals. I am not trying to produce honey for sale so I don't have the preasures of a lot of yall on here. I am not trying to offend anyone or cause a stir just trying it to see what will happen.
So why did you put them in a man made box with frames. No insulation, no natural decaying bacteria, nor any of the things they would have in a tree?
That move made all your other ideas mute, in my opinion.
Quote from: iddee on June 01, 2010, 01:35:00 PM
That move made all your other ideas mute, in my opinion.
Most ideas are only as mute or verbose as the person who has them....they can be moot, though ;).
so I have a nuke with a few drawn frames in it with some lemongrass oil as an attractant. What I didn't do was change the opening. The nuke has the normal opening near the bottom. Should I reduce it, plug it, drill another 1" hole?
I placed it close to a bee tree, and I have bees coming and going out of it, but I assume they are just robbing wax?
Quote from: harvey on June 01, 2010, 01:01:25 PM
I am just thinking that man has really screwed a lot of stuff up,(Japanese beetles, golf of mexico, pbt),
I don't know much about that Mexican golf, but I'd say that golf in general was a bad screw up!!! :-D
Quote from: AllenF on May 31, 2010, 10:49:25 PM
Next year, put out a dozen traps. They are out there. If you build the traps, they will come.
AllenF--are traps at waist level okay? Or is it much better for the traps to be suspended from trees and other high spots? Also wondering about the bait (old comb and lemongrass EO-soaked cottonballs in plastic baggies) in my 2 empty hives. Is it worth taking up the space? Thanks :)
EDITED: Sorry, I just reread the whole post and saw Harvey's excellent bait descrition. The question about waist-high and hive bodies still stands, though...
Harvey--I sure wish I lived nextdoor!! What an awesome season you are having :)
Scadsobees, you are cracking me up :D
Quote from: dp on June 01, 2010, 02:14:18 PM
so I have a nuke with a few drawn frames in it with some lemongrass oil as an attractant. What I didn't do was change the opening. The nuke has the normal opening near the bottom. Should I reduce it, plug it, drill another 1" hole?
I placed it close to a bee tree, and I have bees coming and going out of it, but I assume they are just robbing wax?
I would leave the entrance.
There will be bees investigating the scent, checking things out, i've noticed that especially with lemongrass oil. They won't rob wax, but if there was any honey in there....they'll also check out the smell of the wax because often where there's wax there's honey. If you have a lot of them coming and going and there isn't honey in there, well that might be different.....
Quote from: harvey on May 31, 2010, 11:35:15 PM
Just not sure what to do with all the bees? I was thinking maybe 3 to 5 hives? I can see that number doubling this year, I only started with one! Should have bought stock in Dadent before I started! Not sure now should I build some more boxes and keep putting the swarm traps out or let the swarms find trees and know they are in the area next year? How do you know when to stop?
Maybe sell nucs?
I do understand what you're after. I don't like to feed or use treatments either. Some people buy, some don't and some do both. I'm fairly certain most of us have had the same thoughts / wants. To me, like pheasant, they may need a little help here and there. Time will tell.
Thanks for the reply, Congrats and Enjoy!
Quote from: harvey on June 01, 2010, 01:01:25 PM
Would they have made it if they hadn't entered the bait hives? My intention is to not do anything. If they are serviving on there own in the wild then why would I have to treat them or give them special care? I am putting them all on starter strips so they build comb their way and their size. I will give them all two deeps for brood and honey. Then when they are ready I will super. If anything ends up in the supers I will call that mine. Other than that I am going to see what not feeding them (sugar is bad!) and not treating them (they don't get that in the woods) will do for me. If I loose some hives I guess that it was ment to bee and I will try for more swarms next year. I am just thinking that man has really screwed a lot of stuff up,(Japanese beetles, golf of mexico, pbt), all kinds of stuff that we try and improve on get screwed up and we don't seem to be able to fixem. So I am going to try and let the bee's keep there smaller comb and size and see if they are healthier without treatments. No one heard of mites being a problem till they started fumigating the hives did they? All this requeening? Don't bee's requeen when they feel they need to? I really don't know what I am talking about but I don't see any harm in not giving them un-natural stuff and chemicals. I am not trying to produce honey for sale so I don't have the preasures of a lot of yall on here. I am not trying to offend anyone or cause a stir just trying it to see what will happen.
I know my ideas are moot, and kinda far fetched, Yes I did change their environment, or they selected a new one. They are the ones that choose the bait hive. I am not trying to cause grief on here nor do I want to say that I know what I am doing cause I really don't, and rather than let the bees starve I will feed. Hopefully I will be able to put frames of honey away to feed back to them if need be. I am just trying to piece together all the good ideas (what I think is good) that I read on here and put them into play somehow. Time will tell. I may change my opinion or ideas like the season don;t rightly now today from tomorrow sometimes. So far though so good. Maybe I will put the next swarm on foundation and compare?
You're making perfect sense. I hope to get someday to no feeding, no packages. Time will tell. Best of luck!
harvey, you will find a balance. just be willing to re-evaluate what you are doing as you go.
i keep horses. in the wild, they don't get their feet done or get wormed. they don't get vitamins and no one grooms them. because i choose to keep them, i am responsible for their care.
i keep bees. in the wild there would not be so many hives in one area, nor would anyone take honey from them and try to keep them from swarming. because i keep them and take from them, they sometimes need my attention.
you can read books and talk to people, but much of what you learn will come from trial, error, and loss. you'll never learn all that there is to know, but you will get a feel for things as you go along.
Thank you, I am excited about bee keeping, I like to try new things however I do not wish to offend anyone on here. Everyone has been very helpful. I will learn as I go, with my luck as usual the hard way. Again thanks to all.
Harvey, I've not been offended one time for every 20 times I have offended someone. Besides, this wasn't the one, either, if you thought it was.
Quote from: kathyp on June 01, 2010, 04:38:39 PM
harvey, you will find a balance. just be willing to re-evaluate what you are doing as you go.
i keep horses. in the wild, they don't get their feet done or get wormed. they don't get vitamins and no one grooms them. because i choose to keep them, i am responsible for their care.
i keep bees. in the wild there would not be so many hives in one area, nor would anyone take honey from them and try to keep them from swarming. because i keep them and take from them, they sometimes need my attention.
you can read books and talk to people, but much of what you learn will come from trial, error, and loss. you'll never learn all that there is to know, but you will get a feel for things as you go along.
[/quote
Kathy, That really is what it's all about. You are a wise woman!!
Quote from: harvey on June 01, 2010, 06:47:36 PM
Thank you, I am excited about bee keeping, I like to try new things however I do not wish to offend anyone on here. Everyone has been very helpful. I will learn as I go, with my luck as usual the hard way. Again thanks to all.
Trying new things happens all the time here!! We all try things and then settle down into an experienced routine that works for each of us. Take making frames and going foundationless...I tried it and don't like it, but others do. Sometimes we learned the hard way, sometimes ideas work out. Sometimes those of us who've been here for more than a couple years have seen some ideas come around more than a few times, and when it didn't work for us then we're a little discouraging on it. But there are plenty of ideas that others do that don't work for me, so I'll throw my experiences into the mix. Go in eyes wide open....hope for success, expect failure....
But then again...we all know all that already....
get any more swarms yet?
I had a swarm in one of my bait hives. There were hundreds of bees on the outside and they were going in and out. I left the bait hive there for five days and went and got it after dark tonight. I used a flashlight to look inside can only see under the frames. I only saw one little bee? It has been storming all day so maybe the bees are tight up in the comb? Either that or they didn't like the bait hive and moved on? I won't know till morning when I take the top off. I will be putting the bait hives back out this weekend. I have my fingers crossed. Just picked up some 1 by 12's to make more boxes. maybe I jinxed myself?