Got prodded a little to start a thread related to beekeeping since there is such a wealth of knowledge on the forum, and we have quite a few 'keepers,so here goes nothing.

Hopefully this will be a spot to discuss, ask questions, pick up tips and tricks, and maybe tell some wild tales.

If you keep bees you will recognize that for every beekeeper out there, there will be just as many opinions on a topic, plus one because some can't keep their own opinion straight. That being said let's just keep it open and enjoy the variety of experience levels and opinions.

And, since this is a trapping forum, I'll start.

Swarm season is right around the corner so I'm gearing up for that. Here is how I do it:
Start with an old ratty deep box. Cut a hole in the front, angled upward toward the inside top so it doesn't catch rain water. Offset it a little so it lines up between frames. I used a 1 1/4" bit.


Cut plywood to fit the box and screw it onto the bottom. Place a hole or two in the bottom and cover with 1/8" hardware cloth. This will allow water to drain and scent to vent.

Pick some old frames-the rattier and blacker the better. If you lost some to moths then they are perfect. You only need one, but I sometimes put in two or three.

Fill the rest of the box with empty frames, preferably used. Again, those lost to moths are perfect. Use starter strips if you want, but it isn't a deal breaker.


Opposite of your entrance hole stuff a cotton ball in between frames to hold your lure. Regular lemon grass oil from a health shop is just fine. Commercial lure works too. Soak the cotton ball and screw a piece of plywood over the top of the box.


Pick a spot and put it up high, 6 feet or higher is best. Try to have your entrance facing south and full sun is best. A couple dabs of lure on the entrance and check it about once a week. Some place doors over the entrance which can be closed when a swarm has been captured, but I just slap a piece of hardware cloth over it and staple.

One last thing, there should be NO other holes than the entrance where bees can fit through. When you are coming down a ladder in the dark with your freshly trapped bees is the absolute last time you want to find out that they can come out somewhere else. As most beekeepers can attest, bees can fly about 40 MPH but they can crawl about 100 MPH!

Nice got me some swarm traps build and hope to give it a try this year. Also got all 4 hives though the winter and 3 are doing great with one only have spotty drone brood. I am suspecting a laying worker hive but not positive.

Take some pics next time you're out and let's have a look. If all you have is drone brood this time of year you are probably correct.

I have been amazed in the lack of bees in my area. I bet don't see a dozen the whole season here. I have been resisting but feeling the urge to get a couple nucs again.

There are not many feral colonies here either. Most of my captured swarms came off other keepers' hives last year.

it's not just regulare looking drone brood, it's really spotty nasty looking capped drone brood. I seen plenty of eggs some have 2 in a cell and other just one. I will take some pics tomorrow, lucky I just moved this hive to my house 3 weeks ago.

Sounds like laying workers. If so, you can always newspaper combine them onto a strong, queenright hive.

That's what I was think I have a nuc I got to over winter that has a good queen. Do you think I could get them the except the nuc with a news paper combine?

It depends on the different strength of the respective hives. Orientation is important too. Like which hive goes on top of the other, etc. It is always best to put a queenless hive on a much stronger hive. An excluder is a good idea too to keep the queen you have from fighting a laying worker. The goal is to keep her in her brood box with her attendants and let the workers from the queenright hive hunt down and kill all the laying workers.

Your other option, which is a good one if you recently moved your hives is to do a shakeout. Before you do leave a nuc with empty frames with comb in the place where the queenless hive was. Do the shakeout and then simply move the frames with bees over your nuc in the normal newspaper combine method. This will leave you with all workers and no laying workers. Since there is no competition they will readily accept the new queen from the nuc. But, you will have to had moved them after the workers started laying. If so, they will have no way to return as they will not have left the hive since the became laying workers.

You can also just shake them out. Most will end up in any of your other hives. One last option, add a frame at a time to your other hives, over time, until the box is empty.

Doesn't hurt to advertise.

Doesn't at all.

I was wondering when you would join us and share some knowledge.

All out of that stuff but I brought my shovel. LOL

Lol.

Laying worker is one of the most difficult challenges to correct. Basically you're fighting bees that are convinced there is nothing wrong and we all know there ain't no changing a bee's mind for them.

I've done it but by the time it's done the colony is almost always beyond the point of no return in strength and you end up combining anyway.

My method.
Haul hive 100+ feet away.
Dump every bee out on the ground.
Carry empty hive back to it's original location.
Add a frame of open brood, the younger the better. (Open brood produces pheromones that suppress laying workers)
Repeat the process every 7 days until the colony draws a queen cell on supplied brood frame.

Usually takes 4-6 weeks, sometimes longer.
I don't bother anymore. Either combine with a very strong colony or bust them down and scatter frames around the yard.

I helped a couple of friends last fall that have hives and I'm going to try and start my own this year from swarms. Both guys catch them and have said they will get me started but I'd like to try your trap. I can get old supers and frames no problem. With the trap you show ,when you get a swarm what do you do next? How long do you have to get them in a hive body and how do you do it?

There is a feral colony at my son's place in an old hedge tree that's been there for around 4 years. Do you think it would be possible to entice them into that trap? Would you place the trap into/on one of the trees in the hedge row? I know this is probably a lot of dumb questions but neither man uses traps to catch swarms.

Thanks fingertrapper and warrior. Great advice.

On the subject of swarm traps, higher might be better but I set all of mine chest high. They are easier to set and check for me. I had 17 swarms last year that did not mind them being chest high.

My Papa had 500 hives in Texas. I grew up around them and enjoy threads like this. Takes me back a few years when things seemed simpler. I was always a bit shy around bees. I can hear him now “more smoke candy a$$, what’s your problem “ good times!!