Great Tip

D Semple · April 27, 2012, 11:48:44 AM

On a recent thread Robo and Iddee gave a tip that really helped me out this week.

The tip was (paraphrasing) "that on a swarm that is in the process of moving in, or that has just recently moved in within the last day or two, you can put a trap out funnel in place to quickly get the bees to abandon their new home before they have time to get it established."

On Tuesday I got called out to a commercial shop that had scout bees checking out an office. 20 or 30 bees buzzing around the outside of a wall crack and a few getting into the office coming up through a window ledge.

Low and behold as I'm explaining to Becky the store owner what the bees are doing out by the crack in the outside wall , here comes the swarm flying in on perfect Que like I had orchestrated it! :lau:

I quickly set up a baited hive for a swarm trap, scooped 1/2 a pound so worth of bees into the top of the hive, sealed most of the crack with caulk, and put a funnel in place to keep the majority of bees from entering the building and let the 300 - 400 that had gotten in back out.

The queen must have made it into the wall and not come back out through the funnel till late in the day because it took the girls till early evening to accept the bait hive but they finally did, and I took them home last night, job completed, quick $250 in my pocket.

Thanks Robo and Iddee for the great tip I owe you both a beer. :cheer:

Don

Swarm arriving

G3farms · April 27, 2012, 12:53:47 PM

Another great tip................

Always buy clear silicon caulk, makes for a neater job!

Robo · April 27, 2012, 01:50:16 PM

Iddee taught it to me, but I have used it multiple times with great success. About the only time I get the original queen out of a trap-out.

iddee · April 27, 2012, 11:08:44 PM

It's nice to hear some of my ramblings actually pay off.
Thanks, glad I could help.

AllenF · April 27, 2012, 11:20:56 PM

I find a lot of the ramblings on this forum pay off in one way or another.

jmblakeney · April 27, 2012, 11:38:53 PM

Attention bees, when I go talk to this lady you get on the ready, 3-2-1 ACTION.... :-D

Great Job and tip. Thanks.

James

TwoHoneys · May 03, 2012, 08:15:17 PM

A woman called me tonight to say that she watched a swarm move into an overhang on her porch this afternoon. I think I'll set a trap out in the morning! Thanks, Don (and iddee) (and Robo).

Would it sweeten the lure to add a frame of open brood?

-Liz

iddee · May 03, 2012, 11:14:10 PM

A frame of open brood is always a good idea.

TwoHoneys · May 04, 2012, 07:32:25 AM

Quote from: iddee on May 03, 2012, 11:14:10 PM
A frame of open brood is always a good idea.

Iddee, just to let you know that I've been paying attention: I know to place the cone so the bees can WALK...not fly...right into the entrance of the hive box. :) And the cone opening should be wide enough to accommodate a worker hauling a dead drone...and no more.

Wish me luck.

-Liz

G3farms · May 04, 2012, 09:06:49 AM

Liz..................make the tip of the cone so the bees can fly away to forage, place your catch box as close to the wall entrance. When the bees leave the tip of the cone they do not turn around and orient to it, they have it in their mind to come back to the original entrance on the wall. When they leave the tip of the cone they will not walk into the catch box, they are going to forge. When they return to the base of the cone and are trying to get in is when they will eventually "smell" the brood and go into the catch box.

After you get your screen cone on, just watch the bees and see what they do.

iddee · May 04, 2012, 09:17:51 AM

I do wish you luck, but even more, I feel confident you are fully capable and will have them out within 48 hours. Maybe today.

TwoHoneys · May 04, 2012, 05:29:04 PM

The bees that return to the hive can't get back in and are entering the lure box...but not too many are leaving. Most are sort of jamming up and hanging out at a little bend near the top of the cone.

Below are some images. My cone ended up being more of a tunnel, but I had to stretch it out in order to reach the box...is it okay?

By twohoneys at 2012-05-04

iddee · May 04, 2012, 09:03:11 PM

You missed the part about not trapping them as they come out, rather you trap them when they return from the field.
Cut your cone down to a half or third of what it is and put the box up next to the house entrance.

There is no relationship in the location of the cone tip and the hive box. The relationship is with the cone BASE and the box.

TwoHoneys · May 04, 2012, 10:08:47 PM

Quote from: iddee on May 04, 2012, 09:03:11 PM
You missed the part about not trapping them as they come out, rather you trap them when they return from the field.
Cut your cone down to a half or third of what it is and put the box up next to the house entrance.

There is no relationship in the location of the cone tip and the hive box. The relationship is with the cone BASE and the box.

Ahhh. It just clicked in...I may have to suspend the catch box by a rope from the roof to get it close to the current entrance, but I'll give it a shot in the morning. Thanks, iddee and G3Farms.

-Liz