Swarms in may are worth? Well nothing because they just hung around shivering. This year a swarm in june is worth a load of hay. I had 4 swarms in the last few weeks but they came from colonies wintered in florida. In the last couple of days I lost one for sure but trapped 3. Still have about a doz traps hanging. I'm running low on equipment.
Build more. :-D
build plenty more :-D ...schawee
Anybody have a picture of what one of these "traps" look like? Larry
Any old box will work. I mean any and old. I like cheap 5 frame nucs. Drew's plans are good and cheap to build here on the site. Put old frames in there. Old wax and lemongrass oil for bait.
OK, Thanks!
I thought when they said that they were hanging, that maybe they were something other than a 5 frame nuc.
Larry
Quote from: AllenF on June 07, 2011, 05:06:35 PM
Build more. :-D
I bought a 50 box skid of deeps from Kelly that are assembled but still need paint and frames. I also rotate boxes out that need paint and repairs and have about 15 of these now with no frames because I stuffed them in swarm traps. My colony count is about 45 right now so I have another 85 to 90 deeps in use. What I really need is time. Shook another swarm yesterday off the side of a chimney
This is basically overkill, but I did catch one swarm in one of these this year. The Camo paintjob is to place them in trees and "hide" them from vandals. I find it makes the boxes very hot in the sun. The wooden gadget is a cover for a vent hole, 3/4 inches. I suspended them in trees, with line to stabilize lateral movement (keep them from swinging around.)
(http://www.captainchicken.com/pictures/camonuc500.jpg)
I caught swarm #9 last yesterday
2 more swarms this weekend. One in a trap and one shook. That make 11
Sweet.
Dang!....You go!
njoylife10 <-----jealous
Quote from: danno on June 14, 2011, 10:30:57 AM
2 more swarms this weekend. One in a trap and one shook. That make 11
No offense, but I hate you now!! :-D Honey or no honey, that makes for a fun and exciting spring.
cant remember how to post pics. I have a bunch
I can't keep up with tops, frames, and bottoms. Still have plenty of boxes to use. I don't know what brought all these local swarms on this year. I don't have any spare time to work my day job.
Hey Terry
Although I still have about 40 new deep boxes in the honey house I still dont have frames for them and they still need a coat of paint. I dont have a single extra frame right now. Friend of mine called me at lunch. He just recieved a order for 20 more queens from Olivarez but they screwed up and sent him 40. I couldnt take any off his hands because of lack of equipment.
Frames can be bought.
Danno,
I think I have 20 new frames and foundation you can borrow, if you get in a pinch. I have a lot of used stuff, but most wouldn't want to use others used stuff.
We could meet in Crystal Valley or Ruby Creek.
Anyhow the offer is open, if you need it.
Jay
Maybe trading swarms for frames? :-D
I used most of my extra frames for splits this spring followed by stocking up my mating nucs. I had not planned on more than a couple of swarms like last year. There could be a bunch of bees parked close to me coming out of blue berries. I have two frame jigs so I'll be building 20 a night for a while
Quote from: skflyfish on June 15, 2011, 09:14:31 PM
Danno,
I think I have 20 new frames and foundation you can borrow, if you get in a pinch. I have a lot of used stuff, but most wouldn't want to use others used stuff.
We could meet in Crystal Valley or Ruby Creek.
Anyhow the offer is open, if you need it.
Jay
thanks Jay
I'll keep that in mind. I still have 9 swarm traps hanging so as long as the swarms cooperate and stay away from them I should be OK. I also have a observation hive that I want a small swarm with a virgin queen. Terry are you building frames from scratch?
Dan, I dashed up to Dadants in Albion and grabbed a couple hundred frames as I was out. That's one item that I will never try to build. They are just to cheap to buy and take about five minutes to glue-staple 10 of them with the jig.
I found the source of all my recent swarm captures. Turns out someone dumped 120 hives on pallets about 3 miles down the road. I knew that all these free bees were not from the woods. Looking for the owner of those pallets to talk about him screwing up my queen breeding program.
checked 1/2 of my 9 remaining swarm traps and had 3 more. I'm pulling them down next week. One more and I'll have 15 this year
Do you requeen your swarm catches?
Quote from: seabees on June 24, 2011, 07:38:49 PM
Do you requeen your swarm catches?
No I dont. I use them mostly for drawing new comb. They all get 1/2 drawn combs and 1/2 new frames and foundation. Swarms are the best wax producers