Hello Gang,

I tried the swarm trap last year and decided that the fiber trap was
a major pain in the neck to use. It looks good in the catalogs, but
putting it to use in a real tree with real wind blowing on it, and
real frames getting jumbled up inside because the sided pinched in
and out make it a bad choice.

Cheap, yes, and also time consuming to use.
The cover never stays on correctly in a tree.
Tying the cover on either collapses the sides or pinches them in.
In either case the frames fall off the rest and lean against each other.

I tried to prop up the end bars, put screen over the hole to keep
red squirrels out, placed a bungee cord around it to keep it on the
tree limb with the cover in place, cut new form fitting end supports
for the frames.

So then, I asked myself, SELF, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS ANYWAY?

The easier way turned out to be not using the easier simple fiber trap
at all. I placed an old hunters tree stand in a tree. I placed a single
hive body on the platform bottom board, covers and all,
and installed the pheromone lure in it.
I strapped the hive to the tree stand with a hive strap.
I installed a mouse guard and that was that.

I leave two traps in separate locations in place near the apiary all
year long. I did not loose any swarms this year and I did not catch any either. There was a lot of interest in them during the swarm season.
I thought I had caught a swarm one night because of the heavy
traffic in and out of each trap/hive, but it was not so.

The platforms are 12 feet from the ground with the entrance facing south.
One is in a Pine tree and is partially shaded at various times of day.
The other is in a Cherry tree and has full sun for most of the day.

I will replace the lure early this Spring, probably in early March.
I have old dark combs in the center of each. Wax moths? Maybe, I'll let
you know when I open them in March. If the combs are in bad shape, I'll
change them. They had been rotated out of normal use anyway, so there
was no great loss here.



Ernie Gregoire "Beekeeper," definition= partially brave,

                            partially excentric

Grist Mill Apiary

Canaan, NH. USA


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01/31/99 18:02:29