From: "Larry Krengel" <[log in to unmask]>

  >I have often wondered if the smell of the beeyard draws the scouts
> to look in that area for new accommodations.  Swarms are drawn by bee 
> smell - lures or used comb - so it seems possible.

I can't see any issue with placing bait hives at the bee yards. Back in the 
80s when there were lots of wild colonies, I put out bait hives (all in my 
bee yards) and captured nearly 100 swarms one spring. I can't absolutely say 
that none of these were from my bees, but my bees had been split and most of 
the swarms came from the wild. Many of them were the snotty black bees that 
once were so common in the river swamps around here - and I'd have to 
requeen them to use for pollination. I believe these were remnants of the 
European black bee that some love so much. I don't; if I used them for 
pollination, I'd get complaints from my clients. Varroa mites and clearcut 
logging pretty well removed them from the scene.

Here, bait hives should have been up about three weeks ago as we had some 
swarming about two weeks ago - and those early swarms are gold. The weather 
went back somewhat cold and stopped the swarming, but it's now warming back 
up and I expect it to continue. Indeed I note that swarm scouts are about 
looking, yesterday and today, if you are alert to them. I believe swarmy 
hives are already well aware of suitable cavities before the swarm ever 
emanates from the hive, so bait hive can hardly be placed too early.

When I did this, I would find two suitable trees 14-16 inches in diameter 
that were within 8 ft of each other. I'd nail two 2x4 studs on the trees to 
make as near a level platform as possible, about six feet high. Today, with 
battery powered screwdrivers, I'd prefer screws, as they would be simpler to 
remove.

Then, I'd fasten three single story hives up on the 2x4s. Two would face one 
way and the third (center one) would face the opposite direction. Each hive 
would have nine frames of foundation and one frame of comb. If you see 
scouts checking them out, it's pretty good odds that there will be bees in 
them on the next visit to the bee yard - and the swarm will have popped out 
the foundation into nice new comb, so fast it's almost unbelievable.

Dave Green, SC
(Retired) 

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