| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| Tavascarow |
Trapping swarms.With Spring around the corner thought these two links might be useful.For those of you with no bees but a desire to keep them more so. Here & here |
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| jamanda |
Very useful. Thanks. | ||||
| mochasidamo |
Thank you. Just need a bit of really old brood comb. Easy. Erm... | ||||
| Lorrainelovesplants |
Actually, if you just make it known at your pub, post office etc, that you are willing to collect swarms...(and you must be able to, at the drop of a hat, usually) you should get a phone call.
We had 2 last year....one lot died as they had been on the chaps chimney for 5 days before he let us know....but the other lot (in a wall in a stable) have turned out to be a lovely lot of bees (and very quiet and tame). |
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| Tavascarow |
Mines more like a witherspoons/wine bar & our local shop/post office closed last year. Also for every swarm that gets noticed probably two or three don't. If you know of areas where swarms have been found/seen as you now do by putting traps in that area you will have a better chance of catching them. Also it doesn't hurt to put up a couple near (but not on, your apiary to hopefully catch any of your own swarms. Bees rarely swarm from one hive into a nearby empty hive but prefer to go off some distance. Even the most experienced & diligant beeks get unexpected swarms & having traps nearby is good insurance as they don't always settle near the hive they left first or more often swarm when your not home & you miss them. |
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| Lorrainelovesplants |
I didnt think you had any pubs near you!
I will take your advice re setting up bait hives...I was concerned before to do this incase I inadvertantly encouraged wasps or hornets. |
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| Tavascarow |
Nearest pub is two miles away & it's a trendy dive. Full of teenagers in designer clothes & definately not what I'd call a local. As long as there is no honey in the old comb you use wasps don't seem to be attracted. Wax moths will but as its old comb that won't matter, It's the scent of old wax & propolis that attracts. If you put one at each of the two sites you mentioned earlier & ask the locals to let you know if they see any activity you wont have to check so often. The ideal size from what I can gather is about 30 litres volume. 
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| Lorrainelovesplants |
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| lottie |
Remember to check bait hives  ----my husband lifted one out of the way last year when he was cutting grass to discover it was full of angry bees. 
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| T.G |
bait hives... i'm assuming they are to attract bees, but is there a design/self made option? |
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| lottie |
Sorry---just meant what Tavascrow was talking about---We put a couple of brood boxes with old frames some distance from the active hives as a safety measure because we couldn't give the bees their normal attention last summer---we'd got a swarm of someone elses bees though---much darker than ours. | ||||
| T.G |
aha right i understand now - thanks for the clarification
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| jamanda |
I remembered reading about bait hive lures, so googled and found this.
If I had a virgin queen surely I wouldn't be needing to bait a hive - but, does anyone have any views on the Swarmit stuff? |
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| Tavascarow |
Apart from the links at the top of the page. An empty hive with an old frame of comb will do but they are more effective if they are 8ft plus up a tree as bees are naturally tree dwellers & not ground dwellers. We only keep them on the ground for our convenience. Because of the weight of an empty hive it's not really suitable for putting up a tree but an adapted sturdy carboard box with some polythene weather protection (but not around the entrance) would be fine for two or three months through the season. The bees aren't fussy apart from not liking unnatural materials like plastics & metals. |
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| oliver90owner |
A National brood with bottom space crownboard and deep solid floor is about 40l. I always try to use a solid floor, and the hive could have a divider fitted if too big (14X12 for example). I have never really tried a nuc hive seriously and no bees have taken residence in one of my nucs, yet.
The optimal size may well depend on the swarm size and what else might be in competition with your offering. A 15 inch cube has been touted as ideal. At 55l I think that is perhaps more than I would ever use. It may have been a US size. Several old books (English authors) have quoted 1 1/2 cubic feet which is about a standard National brood. You can take your choice as long as it is not too small. I never leave a wide opening (usually about 50mm x 22mm) and always use a solid floor. Last year I was successful with hives containing a swarm lure - can't be certain if they helped as there were a lot of swarms available last year, compared to the previous two or three seasons. With regards to the 'up a tree' comment. Some bait hives are made with plant pots fixed to a board (board vertical and pot horizontal) and then hoisted up trees. Probably a bit of a mess when it comes to transferring the bees, but cheap and effective in some situations (for instance in the US where any resident colony is first destroyed and then tested for 'africanised' bees). Regards, RAB |
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| Tavascarow |
I have heard mixed reports about artificial swarm attractants. Some swear by them others say they are a waste of money. I've never tried them. Those that find them a waste of time might not be considering other aspects like siting & using a suitable type & size of container, so it might not be the attractant at fault. As Rab says (again from what I've read) small boxes like a nuc hive don't seem to be attractive. I have kept an empty hive with old comb in on my apiary for years & never had a swarm take residence. But it makes sense to me that the bees would want to move farther afield. Why set up home next door & be in direct competition with your neighbours when there is a perfectly good home half a mile away in pastures new. |
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| Tavascarow |
In answer to your second question. When a colony rears queens they often rear many as you know. Usually the first to emerge will destroy the others before they can emerge but often don't or aren't allowed to by the workers. If you have a hive with a surplus of virgin queens that you don't require for breeding then no reason to use them in this way but I have no knowledge of its efficacy but Ed & Dee Lusby are more knowledgable than me & have been at the forefront of 'natural beekeeping' for some time so I see no reason to doubt it. |
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| lottie |
I've tried a hive lure phial with no more success than old frames---but that's hardly a scientific approach and I know people who are keen on them. | ||||
| oliver90owner |
no more success than old frames
That is certainly a problem - did it work or would it have worked without!! The only way is to put up umpteen pairs of identical bait hives, excepting the lure in one of each pair. I don't have the time or the resources to do that. Eureka! the manufacturer of the lure will say when the results are favourable (as one would/should expect them to be). But there is still that niggling thought that either would have done nicely but the one with the lure just 'shaded' the decision over the other hive - in other words, only a percentage point, or two, between with and without. I certainly do not have enough experience of them yet to have an opinion one way or the other - except that if it doesn't do what it says on the box.... They do also advertise them as lures for swarming bees to cluster around straight from the hive, to keep them inside your boundary so you can easily recover your lost swarm. I've not checked this out either, as I don't have enough hives to afford risking swarms left, right and centre! Regards, RAB |
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| beesontoast |
Recipe for swarm lure1. Melt some old comb - the darker the better - in a double boiler.2. Stir in a few drops of lemongrass or citronella essential oil. 3. Pour into a convenient mould to set. A good shape to aim for is that of a large crayon. Use it to rub the inside walls of your bait hive or box. |