Potential pitfalls to swarm trapping

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Jason

Trap15 along with a very nice group of bees had some nasty stowaways. SHB.

Last weekend I found myself in a funk.  There was an event that made me realize that swarm trapping along with all of its positive aspects may also have some negative consequences.  Trap 15 had been hanging in one of my best trapping grounds.  It was in the same tree that I caught two awesome colonies last year.  1106 one of  my very best hives, came from that very tree last year.  The bees in Trap15 were numerous and had built 8 frames of comb, many filled with unsealed brood.  After I removed the last frame I saw something move in the bottom of the box.  I did a double take.  It was a Small Hive Beetle (SHB). Continue reading →

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What to do when your trap gets a HIT (a potential catch)?

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Jason

A fresh crop of bees converging on a swarm trap.

I have been conversing back and forth with someone on YouTube about swarm trapping.  Recently they had a trap that was occupied.  They immediately attempted to hive the bees, and they fear that something may have gone very wrong.  This is a failure on my part, because I have not yet communicated the entire procedure that I am using for swarm trapping. Continue reading →

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Thoughts on Beekeeping – A Friday rant

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Jason

Picture of myself and Ken. I bought my first two hives from him. He was a bee encyclopedia.  He was riding the train of feeding and treatment.  He has left beekeeping.

Today I was going to post about a new observation that I have made in swarming behavior.  It is exciting and  I feel it is important, but I will post it on Monday.  I had been thinking about something yesterday and a phone call in the afternoon compelled me to change mid stream.

A new beekeeper AND friend (Mike) called stating he had caught his third swarm in a trap he built based upon the directions I had given him.  Originally his neighbor, who has been keeping bees for years, told him to purchase packages.  Mike was told the same thing that I have heard time and time again, “there are no more feral bees!” and “That won’t work!” Continue reading →

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Trap-out update

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Jason

The frame of open brood is in the center there. It is labeled Bentz. Thank you Mr. Bentz.

It has been a while since I posted on the progress of the trap-out.  On 5/4 a single frame of open brood was placed in the TOB.  This was done in hopes of enticing the queen out of the block wall and into the box.  Sadly I have no video or pictures of this step because there were storms in the area and I got into a hurry.

I utilized a frame of brood that was given to me by a friend.  This was done because I didn’t want to steal brood from my honey producing hives and I had only just caught my first swarms four days earlier on 5/1.  They were not bringing in pollen yet so were unable to provide a nice frame, full of brood in various stages of development.  Thank you Mr. Bentz. Continue reading →

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The difference between a HIT and a catch

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Jason

I have had bees occupy a trap only to leave it a short time later.  At times they have stayed as long as a couple of days.  This caused me a lot of frustration last year as you can see from this video.  It was mainly due to a lack of patience and a healthy dose of ignorance.  It forced me to start classifying HITs and catches.

Continue reading →

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The power of LGO!

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Jason

Stock bottle of LGO next to my leaking dropper bottle.

There have been times in all of our lives when we have had to “Eat Crow”.  Serendipity struck this last weekend and I must set the record straight and acknowledge that I was probably wrong about downplaying the importance of Lemon Grass Oil (LGO) in swarm trapping.

I had arrived at that conclusion last year after a swarm left one of my traps in favor for a bee tree that had not overwintered.  I knew there was LGO in my trap, and none in the tree.  Therefore from this one instance I became convinced that LGO was hoodoo trickery!!!!  I continued to place it in my traps because I already had a bottle.  I was totally convinced that old comb was the key to attracting swarms. Continue reading →

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Hanging of Swarm Traps

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Jason

Those traps aren't going to catch anything if they are in the garage.

I realized recently that I hadn’t scheduled How I Hang a Swarm Trap for publishing yet.  If you are interested take a look at it and get some traps out there.

A lot of beekeepers think that the swarm season is only about a month in the early spring, but I have caught swarms all throughout the summer.  If you are just getting your traps ready and up don’t think it is too late. Continue reading →

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Free Bees Anyone?

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Jason

Today is Sunday 5/6/12

With the bees I have caught in the last week I am quickly approaching my quota for the year.  If anyone out there is in need of bees and they live within 50 miles of Liberty, IN please contact me via e-mail.  This year I will be giving them away.

Things will be distributed on a first come first serve basis.  You will need your own  wooden-ware because I have none left to spare.  If I give you 8 frames I will need 8 frames back preferably assembled.  All frames are DEEPS.

You would either get 6 or 8 frames of bees at whatever stage they are at drawing them out.  I can make sure that each group has a laying queen.  I cannot be sure of genetic background or age of any queen.  Weights will vary considerably.  There are no guarantees, other than if you get a group and something happens I may be able to get you another one.

If I don’t get any notification the traps will come down and I can return to getting more than 3 or 4 hours of sleep per night.

Send me e-mails!

Jason

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First Hit of the Year.

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Jason

First occupied Trap for 2012

Today is Friday, but the best day of this week clearly was Wednesday!!!  The post about  dead bees was a bummer so I was in search of good news.  Being out and about, I decided to check some swarm traps.  Trap18 is in a place I referred to in Looking for Spots.  A neighbor of the landowner had bees many years ago, but no hives have been kept in the area for 15-20 years.  There is a colony in a large sycamore about 300 yards from where this trap is located.  The land owner claims they have occupied that tree for at least the last ten years.  Those are my kind of bees!   Continue reading →

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The inner-workings of my Trap Out Box (TOB)

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Jason

With everything that has been going on I haven’t had a chance to show how this TOB is going to work.  I took some pictures back on 4/30 and I will show you now.

Hive body with a hole cut in order to accept flange.

The TOB is basically just an old hive body fixed to a bottom board.  In the side there is a hole that mates up perfectly with the flang attached to the building (see Trap Out Day 1).  This box is slightly different than the plans I started with.  Due to the way things were situated at the firehouse the hole had to be in the side of the box instead of the rear.  It was the only way to get it to fit between the building and the antenna tower.

After the TOB is in place for a couple of days I am going to place a frame of unsealed brood in the box.  The theory is that the queen will come to investigate who has been laying in her domain.  Mr. Hogan, the man who provided me the initial plans, claims that after about two days the queen should making her way back and forth.   Continue reading →

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