BEE-L Archives

Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

BEE-L@COMMUNITY.LSOFT.COM

Options: Use Monospaced Font
Show Text Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Subject:
From:
"J. Waggle" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sat, 15 Mar 2008 12:22:01 -0700
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (133 lines)
-- Yoon Sik Kim <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Now how do I go about capturing swarms?  

I’m about 30 to 40% successful with traps placed in
remote from beekeeping areas.  I am anticipating more
success this season as I am finding more bee trees and
noticing  beelines zipping off to the woodlands than
in previous years.

When placing traps, I think of  Lindauer’s
observations of ‘house-hunting bees being former
foragers‘.   Occasionally, I will spot a house-hunting
scout.  They are easy to tell as they key in on large
objects and hover about 12 inches away, facing the
object.  I’ve seen them scouting my house, spending
the most time on the south and west ends of the house,
hovering about a foot away, up and down where shutter
edges and areas of changing features.  I’ve followed
them observed them searching the trunks of trees from
bottom to very high up, and they do in fact, tend to
spend more time looking at the sunny side of the
object.  So traps I place are on a large tree or large
landmark or feature such as a shed or tree lined fence
row etc. near the upwind side of an area having
forage, entrance facing south or west, 6 feet or
higher.   

I have
> never been successful in 
> capturing swarms using traps, either, and wasted
> quite a lot of money

I am always searching for cheep trap ideas:

3 swarms in past 3 years caught off a second floor
balcony in town.
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n237/FeralBeeProject/Trapping%20Feral%20Swarms/DCP_0563.jpg
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n237/FeralBeeProject/Trapping%20Feral%20Swarms/DCP_0567.jpg

I’ve used end tables on balconies with and entrance
hole and lure in them so as not to alarm the neighbors
of anything resembling a bee hive.  

I love most using speaker enclosures for traps:
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n237/FeralBeeProject/Trapping%20Feral%20Swarms/DCP_1520.jpg
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n237/FeralBeeProject/Trapping%20Feral%20Swarms/SpeakerSwarmTrap.jpg
I don’t know why but the woodland ferals go for them
quite well.  I only get one season or two out of them
because the weather beats them up.  An old time bee
hunter friend of mine insists on me providing him with
speaker traps in order to better felicitate the
annoyance of the nosey neighbor lady who cannot figure
out why he hangs speakers about his property. ;) 

Footlockers are fun to use, snap the lock closed and
your off:
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n237/FeralBeeProject/Trapping%20Feral%20Swarms/FootlockerSwarmTrap.jpg

With removable starter board:
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n237/FeralBeeProject/Trapping%20Feral%20Swarms/StarterStripBoard.jpg

Here, I always store a trap near to where I extract
honey.  
The scouts being former foragers are well aware of its
location in advance,
and I got 2 here last season, here’s one of them:
http://s113.photobucket.com/albums/n237/FeralBeeProject/?action=view&current=DCP_1956.jpg

http://s113.photobucket.com/albums/n237/FeralBeeProject/?action=view&current=DCP_1959.jpg

Old gums once holding bees are great for attracting
swarms, and heres one such swarm entering a gum I also
keep near the house, with lure inside.
http://s113.photobucket.com/albums/n237/FeralBeeProject/?action=view&current=dac2.jpg

As a routine spring procedure to replace my bee
equipment with painted boxes, I will change out some
hivebodies in my yard with new equipment, and use the
old box; having tracking pheromone and all sorts of
bee smells as a bait box for that season.  

I’ve had great success with traps placed on top of
sheds with entrance extending out over the edge.  
Farm houses, or hunting camps seem to be places that
attract scouts, being perhaps one of the most visible
land marks to the scouts.  I use lures, and I add
lemongrass oil in melted beeswax with a dab or two
from a brush to the interior south wall of each trap. 
I make it strong, perhaps ¼ cup of lemongrass to 2
cups of wax.  The attractant is so strong,  it gets
scouts to visit the area.  But strangely enough, if
there is a box or void very nearby to these traps, it
appears that the odor so strong in wafting, I’ve seen
several times that the swarm chose the void proximate
to the trap be-it a tree or box without lure.   

I’m wondering if anybody has noticed the occurrence of
a lul in scout traffic at traps, the day or so prior
to the a swarm accepting a trap?  I am seeing this,
and I’m curious that perhaps most of these scouts
visiting in the days prior are from the mother colony,
and nature would require them to be in the colony at
the time of swarming, so they can exit with the swarm
to provide this vital information to the swarm of the
locations of these voids.  If so, is this perhaps a
foretelling knowledge by the bees of the exact day of
swarm departure? 

> Currently I am thinking 
> about contacting one of the local TV Channels that
> featured me about five 
> years ago to come and tape me while I remove one
> walled-colony in the city.

This is a great idea, a well timed feature right as
swarm season starts, and in newspapers, reminding the
public to call a beekeeper in the event they should
see a swarm.  With CCD, the press is eager to do bee
stories.

Best Wishes,
Joe


      ____________________________________________________________________________________
Looking for last minute shopping deals?  
Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.  http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping

****************************************************
* General Information About BEE-L is available at: *
* http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/default.htm   *
****************************************************

ATOM RSS1 RSS2