My swarm traps are medium boxes with hard board tops and bottoms screwed down with 1 inch deck screws. These swarms were caught less than a mile from my house.Once I take the screws out of the top and bottom I plan to set the whole thing on a SBB and slide out the bottom hardboard and have a
reducer to block off the entrance. Then I will take the top hard board off and put an inner cover with a mason jar of sugar syrup on it then the migratory cover.
Does this sound right? Should I keep then closed up for a few days before releasing them?
Anything else I should do or not do for now?
I am a new beekeeper so take my advice with a grain of salt but based on experience! I caught two swarms this year. One on a Monday and the other on Tuesday. I caught them from a tree and got them directly into a 5 frame deep nuc box. I immediately put syrup on them when I got them home. Wednesday of that week, I went out and did not notice much activity from the Monday swarm and just happened to look up in a cedar tree near my apiary and there they were, 25 feet up! They had absconded, ungrateful buggers! I had to get use the bucket on my front end loader to get high enough but I got them down and back into the box. This time I screwed a piece of queen excluder over the entry as my mentor (40 yrs exp) suggested. I left it on for a week and then took it off. They had drawn a lot of comb and had open brood. They are doing great today and going gang busters! The Tuesday hive I did not put an excluder on and thought they would be fine. About 11 days after catching them, they too absconded. I never saw where they went so I just lost them. They too had feed on them and the funny thing is, the day before they left, I peeked into the feeder (home made hive top) to check syrup and they were chugging it like a drunk in a liquor store. I guess they were getting ready to take off!
So, for what it is worth, I will be putting a queen excluder over the entry of every swarm I catch from now on for at least 1 full week!
Yea I figure I would leaves them in the hive for a week before opening up the entrance. I have a quart jar of sugar syrup on top of the inner cover with an empty box around that then the migratory cover on that. I will only open it up to re feed until next weekend.
If you put a frame of open brood in with them they will not leave. So no need for the excluder.
Steve
If you have the resources to give them that frame of brood it is the best insurance you can use. Make sure it is OPEN brood. If you can, also make sure they have one drawn comb.. the queen can lay in it immediately, and that will also lock them down.
Yes, syrup on top, that way they have the resources they need to go to work making comb instantly.
Congrads, craneman!
Quote from: asprince on May 10, 2015, 06:50:01 PM
If you put a frame of open brood in with them they will not leave. So no need for the excluder.
Steve
I didn't have a frame of open brood at the time! :)
Three removals in the last four years have absconded with eggs, larva, capped brood, honey and pollen in the hive. The queen was in each one of them. The brood did not anchor them. All three stayed one night and left the next morning.
I am a brand new bee keeper with all brand new equipment. I have no brood or drawn comb. I closed of the entrance and put a quart of 1to1 sugar syrup on the inner cover. I will check them in a week and see how things go.
I am still waiting from Kellybees as to when and if I will get my packages.
Be sure they have ventilation. They can over heat quickly. They also need pollen to feed new brood.
Craneman,
My mentor and another beek friend advised against closing them up completely, even with adequate ventilation. If you have a queen excluder and can cut a piece to put over the entrance, that will allow the workers to still come and go. The queen and drones can't usually get out though. I would offer to send you a piece of queen excluder but I only have one small piece that my mentor gave me.
Quote from: iddee on May 10, 2015, 11:43:30 PM
Be sure they have ventilation. They can over heat quickly. They also need pollen to feed new brood.
I have no pollen patties will order some today. Dangit I never thought of that,what might I use till I get some patties?? Will a Queen fit through some 1/4" screen?
They have ventilation.
Quote from: TurnTex on May 10, 2015, 11:44:11 PM
Craneman,
My mentor and another beek friend advised against closing them up completely, even with adequate ventilation. If you have a queen excluder and can cut a piece to put over the entrance, that will allow the workers to still come and go. The queen and drones can't usually get out though. I would offer to send you a piece of queen excluder but I only have one small piece that my mentor gave me.
I don't have a Queen excluder. I will order one today also.
Yes, she can fit in between that
Brewer's yeast and/or soy flour are used to supplement pollen, among other things. Search for pollen sub, or pollen patty recipe.
Quote from: iddee on May 11, 2015, 09:23:10 AM
Brewer's yeast and/or soy flour are used to supplement pollen, among other things. Search for pollen sub, or pollen patty recipe.
Will do .
Thanks iddee
OK I went to several stores in a 20 mile radius. Not Brewers yest or soy flour to be found. The closest health food store is about 1.5 hours away and it is storming outside today.
I ordered some pollen patties from Manlake along with some queen excluders. Bee will just have to suck on syrup till the pollen patties come in.
I finally got hold of Kellybees about the 2 packages I ordered on 5/1/15.The guy told me they are being shipped tomorrow. So I should have them no later than Friday.
I'm always learning as well. How do you know if the swarm queen has been mated? Is it a sure thing? That's one of the reasons I started marking my queens. If I get a swarm with a marked queen then I know she's mated, otherwise I stick a frame of drawn out comb in there with some a jar of sugar water on the inner cover. I've caught 23 swarms (my wife caught two of those solo) this year and only have 2 to abscond. I use to put a queen excluder underneath the bottom box but the swarms were happening like clockwork so I ran out of excluders and almost everything else.
btw
Thanks again to the great folks at Bud6 for walking me through a lot of what I'm doing now!! Maybe next year I won't total out my car and can make it. Hopefully our lives will be back to normal by then as well.
I'm in New England and never see swarms. Had traps out for years. What gives?
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GSf-- The only way I can tell if the queen is mated is to see eggs in the cells. Some can tell by looking at her. From what I understand a mated queens abdomen is swollen/ larger than unmated.
Roborep1--- What do you bait the swarm boxes with? I just use lemongrass oil. I put mine as high as I can reach standing on my feet. No ladder or anything.
I think it is best not to put a swarm box in the woods itself but on the outer edges. I don't know if that is what you are doing,but just a thought. Preferably where there is a long fly way to and from the boxes.
Quote from: craneman54 on May 29, 2015, 06:21:09 PM
GSf-- The only way I can tell if the queen is mated is to see eggs in the cells. Some can tell by looking at her. From what I understand a mated queens abdomen is swollen/ larger than an unmated queen.
Roborep1--- What do you bait the swarm boxes with? I just use lemongrass oil. I put mine as high as I can reach standing on my feet. No ladder or anything.
I think it is best not to put a swarm box in the woods itself but on the outer edges. I don't know if that is what you are doing,but just a thought. Preferably where there is a long fly way to and from the boxes.
I can't tell by looking at them if they're mated. I'm like you I look for eggs. However, if the old queen is marked and it's the first swarm when you catch them you'll know.
All these swarms we've had, I've had 8 swarm traps out off and on for two years with LGO/wax and never caught a swarm.
All my boxes are new, hung head high,all have new foundation and I bait with lemongrass oil. The areas are right next to water sources and have open acreage on 3 sides. I live in farm country also.
I don't know if any of that will help you but I hope you catch what you want.
Cant catch swarms if there are none nearby to catch. It is also difficult to do if there are a lot of empty hives for the bees to choose from when they do swarm.
One advantage I have found, is Scott Derricks Swarm Commander. If you want the best chance to catch a swarm, give it a try!
With EVERY feral hive I know of dead this year, I did not even put my swarm traps out, hoping they might repopulate some of those locations. With luck, I will get photos and vids of swarms taking up residence next year.
I may go put out a couple of more traps. I originally wanted 4 hives for my first year,but I am thinking I would go for 5 in case one or more decide to leave.
Hi: I have just caught 2 swarms and both were close to water!One was in the woods and other was nailed on side of a small barn about 30foot from a small pond.The trap I had in the woods was one of the brown paper things>UGH very hard to work that thing.
I had read a method for clearing the bees from that type trap so I am trying to use it. Method:
I placed the screen bottom board on the spot where I want the hive and then put down a solid inter cover on that I placed a frameless 10 frame deep box.I had taped the entrance shut and still had the back on the trap so they can't escape.I then used a box part I had made for suqar feeding in the winter to get the boxes level with the trap with the back removed.Then I removed the back and shook all the bees on the back into the round trap and quickly placed a 10 deep box on that with frames and foundtion.Put on a inter cover with 1 quart of sugar water and put the lid on the box.
The method is working as the bees are already in the top of the box they are migrating up and no entrances are available at this point.went I am ready to release them I will remove the solid cover at the bottom and the box with the trap inside it and it will be a normal 10 frame deep box with a inter cover and feeder.
I hope my plan works!!
I went back to the site this afternoon and placed a new trap on the same tree.Might catch another one if I am lucky!!!
PS They were about 30 bees at the site guess they were foragers from the swarm.if they go in the new trap I might get them yet!Lost about 25 to 30 bees when I opened the top to put on the feeder they came right out and then wanted back in but no entrance.May be they will go into one of my hives there?