Hi Folks,
We are two thirds of the way through swarming season and I?m basically over it. I have had phone calls, watched swarms in mid air and caught quite a few this season. If I see or am told about anymore, I won?t be collecting them. Normally when I catch a swarm I use the method that most of you use and that is to add a frame of uncapped brood to a box and then unceremoniously dump the bees at the entrance and watch them march in. Lately I have been lazy about it and couldn?t be bothered pinching a frame of brood from a hive. I have been using a simple method that I came across by accident. It may be used by many of you but I have never heard of it. A week or so ago I had access to a swarm about the size of a football. Rather than putting a full box down, I grabbed a 5 frame nuc box. I had 4 frames ready to go and needed one more in a hurry. I picked up a frame with plastic foundation that had been previously cleaned. In a fry pan I had some wax where honey had been added. (I had been experimenting with swarm lures about a month or so ago and hadn?t emptied the pan.) In a rush, I heated the honey/ wax mixture and rolled it onto the plastic foundation. It was then added to the centre of the nuc box. The swarm was knocked to the ground and they marched straight into the box. I thought it would be worth trying it again and so far, the process has worked four times in a row. My guess is the freshly melted wax and honey mix is a real enticement to the bees. I will now continue to try this method in the future to see if it is a valid and reliable method. Would be interested in your thoughts.
Cheers
Les
You are probably onto something there. Ever notice that normal comb does not smell much ; but freshly melted and poured beeswax has a fairly strong smell? It is probably the melting/separating process releases a lot of varied types of aromatics that had been absorbed into the combs.
The wax blocks also loose that smell over a few days to a week. But while it is off-gassing, it is very attractive to the bees.
I have heard and read it more than once slumgum makes good swarm trap bait! Go for it Les... I agree with what TheHoneyPump says and others before... I read once in the archives where a fellow was interested in buying a large amount of slumgum for the hope of separating more of the wax than the slum gum owner had accomplished. (Slumgum for profit) hundreds of pounds of it. lol.
One member replied, you can bait up a lot of swarm traps with that, (or something to that effect). Keep up the good work and good ideas Les. I feel sure others will have more to add, perhaps sharing some of their own experiences....
Phillip
Les,
Good observation. That does seem to bee correct.
When I make up swarm traps I like to use one old drawn frame and then put freshly melted wax on the wood strip of the foundation less frames. . When I do it just before the bees move in I get perfectly straight comb in the frames. I have noticed that the box with freshly melted wax is the one they pick when I have several in the same area.
Jim Altmiller
Honey bees have 165 odorant-receptor genes. This is twice what Drosophila (fruit flies) and Anopheles (mosquitos) have.