Anyone ever trap trap bees out of state?

I’m thinking North Dakota 2nd week in May

Humptulips catches a lot in his home state. I would love to but farming keeps me too busy that time of year.

The wild bees were pretty much wiped out here a year ago. I never caught one wild swarm last spring. Never see a bee on the flowers unless near my own bees either.

I only have two hives of bees and lost one of them over winter. I’m planning on trying to trap a few swarms this spring. Could anyone give some good tips on catching swarms?

Dr Tom Seeley has done the research and written the articles and books on what bees prefer in a natural cavity. You can buy his book Honeybee Democracy, find his articles on line or one of the many youtube videos of his talks at bee conferences.

To sum up his findings off the top of my head. Box volume equivalent to a langstroth deep, elevated 6'-20', entrance size no larger than 1.5 sq inches, facing south or southeast. Ideally having housed bees in the past.

In practice a used deep or double stack nuc or equivalent seems to be what most use. Height above head level but don't kill yourself going for the max, remember what goes up must come down. Many use nuc box discs to close traps for moving. Squirrels and birds can be a problem with that hole size, 1/2" hardware cloth or a nail across the hole can be used for a deterrence. And well used can be simulated with a propolis wash on the interior (propolis tinctured in alcohol or heated till soft) and/or old dark brood comb supplied. A weekly application of a few drops of lemongrass oil or commercial swarm lure will definitely help. (A bottle of lemongrass oil will be in my pocket from now until june)

I have caught a lot in the past and the one thing I think is important is to have some used combs in the hive. As far as location, yes having them off the ground and in a sunny location is best but most of the time I find fear of theft keeps me from locating them ideally. If there are bees around and your location is not perfect in my experience you are still good.
I usually would end up setting the box on the ground for concealment and had good luck.
I would add, think about what it will be like moving the hive in the dark and usually on uneven ground. IMO putting it up in a tree as some suggest is out of the question.
If you know where the parent colony is don't set to close. They prefer to fly away from the parent colony. 1/4 to 1/2 mile is good.

I spilled a bottle of lemongrass oil once on my workbench outside - was the only swarm I caught that year....I had about 12 traps out and followed the just few drops thing. After I spilled the bottle - I had all kinds of scouts come in and a few days later a large swarm come in and land directly over my bench on a tree branch.

I catch 15 to 20 swarms a year, I set all my boxes not over waist high. trying to get a box full of bees down from a high place by yourself is not fun. I use a full size box 20x16x10, a small swarm will go into a big box but most big swarms will not go into a small box. I have used lemon grass oil and it works but Swarm commander lure is the best lure I have used.

I haven't had any luck catching swarms. This year I wont be trying to catch any, I had 10 hives over winter with no losses and now have more bees then I need.