Swarms

Tags

beekeeping, honey bees, management, swarm bucket, swarms

This week reports of swarms have increased indicating that swarm season has started in earnest. The flood of calls has yet to begin but will start soon. This picture, from last year shows a swarm capture utilizing my friend Dave’s combination arborist’s tree tool and a homemade bucket with paint strainer modification. These bees were about 28 feet up.

In the US, those interested in catching swarms should visit Bees on the Net which lists beekeepers willing to go out and retrieve swarms in their area.

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Catching Honey Bee Swarms

Tags

beekeeping, honey bee behavior, honey bees, seasons, swarms

Swarm in Five Points

Our swarm season has officially begun here in the Midlands of South Carolina. Beekeepers, old and new, enjoy the thrill of the chase which kicks in the excitement factor associated with gathering a swarm.

So what does it take to catch a swarm? I was doing a quick search this morning to determine the ideal swarm catchers equipment list and I was struck by a web page I stumbled upon which detailed the swarm catching of a young sixteen year old making a few bucks while providing a valuable community service during the spring swarm season. What impressed me the most was the young man’s minimalist approach to necessary gear. Basically he had a cardboard office supplies box reinforced with duct tape with a makeshift screen for ventilation on the lid. His second piece of equipment is a plant mister/sprayer with some sugar water. Otherwise he wings it.

I have been caught out without any equipment while driving around and responded to a phone call unprepared, yet the property owner and I have found a box, a ladder, and a pruning shear to successfully capture a swarm. Once home it’s easy enough to put them into a proper box.

But let’s say you really want to gather a swarm this year and would feel more comfortable having a few items in your car or truck ready to make short work of almost any situation. What items are in the swarm catcher’s essentials bag? Well, probably a standard Langstroth box with frames on a ventilated bottom board. If space in your car or truck is a concern a five frame nucleus box (wooden or cardboard) will suffice. You’ll want to be able to keep them enclosed for the drive back so use some screen or otherwise completely block the entrance. Next is a mister bottle of sugar water to wet the cluster down prior to shaking them or moving to your box. Sugar water isn’t essential but the bees will stay together nicely and it gives them something to occupy themselves with while you work with them. Other items which the homeowner may not have available: ladder, pruning shears or loppers, small handsaw, bee suit, gloves. That’s pretty much all that’s needed to handle most situations. An extra suit is nice if the homeowner wants to get involved. Often they are interested and it’s a good time to do some community education.

Here are a couple links if you’re interested in gathering swarms. And also, if you think you’d be interested join one of the online swarm call lists to have your name out there for people in your community to call. Warning: It’s addicting!

http://www.tillysnest.com/2015/06/how-to-catch-honeybee-swarm-html/

http://www.schneiderpeeps.com/catching-relocating-bees-swarm/

The Russian Scion

Tags

bait hives, beekeeping, honey bee biology, management, scion, swarms

Final stages of Scion creation.  Another coat of propolis, essential oils, and wax and it’s ready to hang.

After reading about the Russian Scion last year I have been eager to make and employ one in my own bee yard. Having used swarm traps with great success I know that swarms can often be retrieved before flying off. However, sometimes issuing swarms choose high branches or remain out of sight of the beekeeper. The scion adds another opportunity to the beekeeper prior to the swarm trap. Since I am home most days and walk my bee yard daily, hopefully I’ll be able to attract them to the easily retrievable scion, and hive them instead of relying on the traps which are also located on site. Below is a good post found on http://www.beesource.com posted by DocBB with some nice pictures:

I found a almost unknown device for us but which is of a common use in every Russian apiary is the “Scion” – (Привой и роевня)

It is a trap or a shelter to catch the swarm as early as possible without (may be) climbing trees.

Can you find it here on the plan?

There are many “designs” but it is commonly settled not far and in front of the hives entrances , one or several of them according to the size of the apiary

The traditional model is a 20-30 cm wide and 30-40 cm plank with one cleat fixed vertically in the middle , more or less rolled with burlap and coated with
alcoholic solution of propolis and flavoured with essential oils (lemongrass, etc.)

as on this blog

the “scion” is then hanged at around 2 to 2,5 m high.

It seems to work !

and the use of one or more old frame is not forbidden

or an old propolised burlap

Source: DocBB on www.beesource.com Forums

Winter Solstice for Bees

Tags

management, swarms

Bees in March

Bubbling over! These bees are overdue for some spring nectar!

Beginning of bloom

The 2021 Winter Solstice will officially begin Tuesday, December 21, at 10:59 am EST. The Winter Solstice means something different to honeybees and to beekeepers. It’s typically associated with the beginning of winter for most people but for the bees, and beekeepers, it’s the beginning of spring.

Very slowly, as the days begin to lengthen, the queen will begin to increase in the number of eggs she lays. On a colony level, for the bees, the goal is to have a full staff of bees ready to reproduce on a colony level (i.e. swarm) at the beginning of the coming nectar and pollen flow. This gives the swarming bees the best chance of survival.

In preparation for this reproductive event, brood rearing begins during the first months of the new year resulting in hives bubbling over with bees by early March. But this increase in population and reproductive stimulation has other ramifications for the beekeeper wishing to discourage that workforce from leaving.

The beekeeper seeks to:
1) encourage population growth to make a good honey crop while
2) protect the colony from starvation as the bees burn through their stores
in order to feed ever increasing numbers of larvae, while
3) discouraging upcoming swarm preparations.

In short, your goal is to encourage an expanding bee population, monitor their food stores, and as February and March approach, to try to keep their minds off swarming. It’s like walking a tightrope!

Happy Birthday Walt Wright

Tags

beekeeping, beekeeping history, education, famous beekeepers, honey bee swarms, swarm prevention, swarms, Walt Wright

Walt Wright was born and raised in Burtonsville, MD, then a barefoot country boy area, and now suburbia of a sprawling Washington, DC. He enlisted in the Air Force to get electronics training, and served as a radar repairman. After service time he joined General Electric in maintaining overseas sites of the Security Service (spell that SPY).

Still with GE, in 1960 he relocated to Huntsville, Ala./Redstone Arsenal to make his contribution on the nation’s quest to put a man on the moon. Development of the propulsive stages of the Saturn V moon rocket was accomplished by NASA on Redstone Arsenal. His responsibility on that program was electronic compatibility of subsystems within stages and compatibility between propulsive stages and the electronics of the instrument ring. No interaction (interference/noise) was permitted between systems on the man-rated launch vehicle.

For the Shuttle program, an added responsibility was systems engineer for on-board Range Safety components. The Air Force has autonomous authority to destroy any launch from the Cape area that poses a threat to populated areas of eastern Florida. Astronauts on board is no exception. If the launch strays from the predicted trajectory, the Air Force can destroy the vehicle by radio command. On-board equipment to implement destruct includes the command receiving and processing electronics and pyrotechnics to disperse propellants.

Walt is aware that the above work history provides very weak credentials to be considered as a honey bee “expert.” He took up beekeeping in his late fifties to supplement retirement income. Confident in his trouble shooting skills, he accepted the challenge “very early” to get to the bottom of the swarming problem. He credits observation skills, sharpened by years of electronics trouble-shooting, for solving the riddle. He was surprised that it was as easy as it was. When his hypothesis was in place in three years, he thought at first it must be in error. Surely, thousands of beekeepers, looking into millions of hives, could not possibly have missed the obvious. His conclusion: beekeepers see, but do not observe, or ask themselves why the bees do what they do.

Honey bees are motivated by survival of the colony. Survival of the existing colony is priority one. In the spring, priority two is the generation of the reproductive swarm. Not even that much is described in the popular literature. Walt concentrated his investigation of swarming in terms of colony activities that support those survival objectives. His findings are a radical departure from literature conventional wisdom. As an example, he claims that all the elements of “congestion”, such as bee crowding and nectar in the brood nest, are deliberate steps to implementing the reproductive swarm process, and not the other way around. The literature has congestion as the “cause” and that’s backwards.

Getting his observations published has been slow moving. Editors of the magazines have an obligation to their subscribers to weed out the chaff from crackpots. Natural skepticism creates mostly rejections of submitted articles. For the year 06 he resorted to writing articles on general beekeeping techniques to build a base of credibility.

He looks forward to presenting his observations through Beesource. It should not be necessary via this medium to appease editors or their advisors. As a start in telling it like it is, he announces point blank: The mystery of reproductive swarming has been solved.

*******************
Walter William Wright
August 24, 1932 – February 6, 2016
*******************

Reference:

http://beesource.com/point-of-view/walt-wright/

Title	Publication	Date
*Spring Reversal Not Good Management for All Areas?	American Bee Journal	Jan-96
*Spring Management is Mandatory With Tracheal Mites	American Bee Journal	Feb-96
*A Different Twist on Swarm Prevention, Part 1	American Bee Journal	Mar-96
*A Different Twist on Swarm Prevention, Part 2	American Bee Journal	Apr-96
*Checkerboarding – A Preliminary Update on My Swarm Control Method	American Bee Journal	Jun-96
*Checkerboarding Works	American Bee Journal	Jul-96
*Swarm Prevention Alternative – Checkerboarding Results and Conclusions	American Bee Journal	Nov-96
*Tennessee Early Spring Management	Bee Culture	Dec-96
*Playing It Safe	Bee Culture	Feb-97
*Swarm Prevention in Tennessee	Bee Culture	Mar-97
*Apply Survival Traits of Honey Bees for Swarm Prevention and Increased Honey Production, Part 1	American Bee Journal	Feb-02
*Apply Survival Traits of Honey Bees for Swarm Prevention and Increased Honey Production, Part 2	American Bee Journal	Mar-02
*Nectar Management 101	Bee Culture	Feb-02
*Is It Congestion?	Bee Culture	Feb-03
*Survival Traits of the European Honey Bee	Bee Culture	Mar-03
*Seasonal Colony Survival Traits	Bee Culture	Apr-03
*Swarm Preperation	Bee Culture	May-03
*Colony Spring Operation	Bee Culture	Jun-03
*Colony Decision Making – And a Look at Observation Hive *Behavior	Bee Culture	Oct-03
*Evils of the Double Deep	Bee Culture	Nov-03
*Survival Traits #6 – Operational Effects on Nectar Accumulation	Bee Culture	Apr-04
Pollen Box Overwintering	Bee Culture	Sep-04
Do You Get Black Locust in the Supers?	Bee Culture	Jan-05
Are They Supersedure or Swarm Cells?	Bee Culture	Jul-05
Fall Feeding	Bee Culture	Nov-05
Nine Frame Brood Chamber? Never!	Bee Culture	Jan-06
Drone Management	Bee Culture	Mar-06
Deficiencies in Design of the Queen Excluder	Bee Culture	Apr-06
Advantages/Disadvantages of Swarm Prevention By Checkerboarding/Nectar Management	Bee Culture	May-06
The Reasons Why the Queen Excluder Limits Honey Production	Bee Culture	Jun-06
“Attic” Ventilation	Bee Culture	Jul-06
Yarn # 1 – Little Momma	Bee Culture	Aug-06
*Backfilling – What’s That?	Bee Culture	Sep-06
Freebees	Bee Culture	Oct-06
Nest Scouts and the Dance Language	Bee Culture	Nov-06
Boardman Feeder/Stimulative Feeding	Bee Culture	Feb-07
Splits Are a Sound Investment	Bee Culture	Mar-07
*The Capped Honey Reserve	Bee Culture	Apr-07
Art of Beekeeping	Bee Culture	Sep-07
CCD – Another Opinion	Bee Culture	Sep-08
How Many Eggs CAN a Queen Lay?	Bee Culture	Nov-08
More on the Pollen Reserve	BeeSource POV	Mar-09
Adverse Effects of the “Patty”	Bee Culture	Apr-09
Propolis – Another 5 Percenter	Bee Culture	May-09
Objections To The Double Deep	Bee Culture	Dec-09
Colony Age Effects	Bee Culture	Feb-10
Small Hive Beetle – My Perspective	Bee Culture	Jul-10
*Prevent Swarming – Before The Bees Even Think About It	Bee Culture	Feb-11
*Increased Honey Production of Checkerboarded Colonies	Bee Culture	Apr-11
*CB Saves Work, Time, And Expenses	Bee Culture	Jun-11
*Nectar Storage Before The Main Flow	BeeSource POV
Nectar Management Works! – by Rob Koss	BeeSource POV
Management For Honey Production	BeeSource POV
Supplement To Management For Honey Production Handout	BeeSource POV
Note: Title with an asterisk (*) in front are pertinent to Nectar Management.

Yellow Jackets by sassafrasbeefarm

Tags

pests, swarms, wasps, yellow jackets

Yellow jackets. Not that you can see any in the picture, this was a call for a honey bee removal. I’ll give the caller credit for thinking they couldn’t be yellow jackets because they weren’t in the ground and they were in a hollow (sort of) cavity. Sometimes those pesky yellow jackets do things differently.

From Wikipedia:

Yellowjacket or Yellow jacket is the common name in North America for predatory social wasps of the genera Vespula and Dolichovespula. Members of these genera are known simply as “wasps” in other English-speaking countries. Most of these are black and yellow like the eastern yellowjacket Vespula maculifrons and the aerial yellowjacket Dolichovespula arenaria; some are black and white like the bald-faced hornet, Dolichovespula maculata. Others may have the abdomen background color red instead of black. They can be identified by their distinctive markings, their occurrence only in colonies, and a characteristic, rapid, side-to-side flight pattern prior to landing. All females are capable of stinging. Yellowjackets are important predators of pest insects.^[1]

Yellowjackets are sometimes mistakenly called “bees” (as in “meat bees”), given that they are similar in size and sting, but yellowjackets are actually wasps. They may be confused with other wasps, such as hornets and paper wasps. Polistes dominula, a species of paper wasp, is very frequently misidentified as a yellowjacket. A typical yellowjacket worker is about 12 mm (0.5 in) long, with alternating bands on the abdomen; the queen is larger, about 19 mm (0.75 in) long (the different patterns on their abdomens help separate various species). Workers are sometimes confused with honey bees, especially when flying in and out of their nests. Yellowjackets, in contrast to honey bees, have yellow or white markings, are not covered with tan-brown dense hair on their bodies, do not carry pollen, and do not have the flattened hairy hind legs used to carry it.

These species have lance-like stingers with small barbs, and typically sting repeatedly,^[1] though occasionally a stinger becomes lodged and pulls free of the wasp’s body; the venom, like most bee and wasp venoms, is primarily only dangerous to humans who are allergic or are stung many times. All species have yellow or white on their faces. Their mouthparts are well-developed with strong mandibles for capturing and chewing insects, with probosces for sucking nectar, fruit, and other juices. Yellowjackets build nests in trees, shrubs, or in protected places such as inside man-made structures, or in soil cavities, tree stumps, mouse burrows, etc. They build them from wood fiber they chew into a paper-like pulp. Many other insects exhibit protective mimicry of aggressive, stinging yellowjackets; in addition to numerous bees and wasps (Müllerian mimicry), the list includes some flies, moths, and beetles (Batesian mimicry).

Yellowjackets’ closest relatives, the hornets, closely resemble them, but have larger heads, seen especially in the large distance from the eyes to the back of the head.^[1]

Read more here: Wikipedia

A swarm of bees in July is not worth a fly by sassafrasbeefarm

Tags

beekeeping, seasons, swarms

A swarm of bees in May is worth a load of hay;
A swarm of bees in June is worth a silver spoon;
A swarm of bees in July is not worth a fly.

Proverbial bee-keepers’ saying, mid 17th century; meaning that the later in the year it is, the less time there will be for bees to collect nectar and pollen from flowers in bloom in preparation for winter..

From:  swarm in May is worth a load of hay; a swarm in June is worth a silver spoon; but a swarm in July is not worth a fly, a  in  The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable

Swarm Control by Bill’s Russian Bee Blog

Tags

beekeeping, checkerboarding, Dr. Jim Tew, spring management, Swarm control, swarm prevention, Walt Wright

Here are two articles on a topic we should brush up on now that swarm season is almost here. The first article is on Checkerboarding, a swarm prevention technique invented by Walt Wright. The second article is titled, Swarm Control and Management by Dr. James Tew. (The second article is a little misaligned but you should be able to find it elsewhere.)

Checkerboarding is a relatively new approach to swarm prevention. Although it has only been published for about 15 years, it defies the old adage that “swarming is inevitable.” This submittal is intended to substantiate or quantify the advertised reliability.

Implementation of the checkerboarding (CB) manipulation is disgustingly simple. The manipulation consists of removing alternate frames of honey from the top box and replacing those frames with empty comb suitable for rearing brood. Since there is no brood nest disturbance, it can be done in late winter before the brood nest expands into the top box of capped honey. After the initial manipulation, to sustain swarm prevention reliability, maintain empty comb at the top for the colony to grow into with brood nest expansion. If that sounds too simple to be effective, you are in good company. Almost nobody believes it would get the reliability that is inherent in the approach.

(cont.)

Read the full article here: Swarm Control — Bill’s Russian Bee Blog

How to Catch A Swarm-N-A-Bucket!

Tags

beekeeping, catching swarms, honey bee swarms, swarm bucket, swarms

Source: Little Creek Bee Ranch

When you see a swarm of bees like this, over 12 feet in a tree, what to do? I’ve lost several very large swarms of Honey Bees, only because they where so high up in a tree (15 to 22 feet), that I had no chance of getting them back. It’s heart breaking to just stand there and look at them, knowing you aren’t going to be able to catch them. They might stay there for a day or two, but that’s about it. Therefore, I came up with a serious plan for being able to catch them back. If you’ll pay close attention to how we go about this, I’m certain you’ll benefit from these tips.

Get your gear together, and setup. The pole and bucket that you see, is PRICELESS! The pole is a paint pole, that extends. The bucket us called a Hipps Swarm Bucket. Yes, you can figure out how to make your own if you’d like.

You might need a helping hand in order to get this job done. Bees that have swarmed, are heavy with honey. Once the main swarm of bees hits the bottom of the bucket, you can’t just TIP the pole over and dump it into the hive….the aluminum pole will just snap. After the bees hit the bottom of the bucket, one person holds the pole upright, while the other person screws the black handle lose, and let the pole slide down into itself, and THEN you can dump them into a hive.

Get the bucket positioned under the swarm and give a solid push. Make certain that the swarm itself is even inside the bucket, before you thump them off the limb. You’ll feel the weight hit the bottom of the bucket, and then it’s up to you and your helper to get the pole upright, and keep it that way. Once the swarm hits the bottom of the bucket, pull the chord hard and close the lid on top of the bucket. Before I put the bucket up in the tree, I spritz inside with some sugar water.

Once the pole is under control, losen the handle and let the bucket come down to a managable level. Then you can walk over and dump them into a hive body. Be sure to take out several frames in order for the bees to have plenty of room to make it into the box.

You may even have to go back up with the bucket in order to get another shot at the remainder of the bees. You may do this several times, at least. The point here is; once the initial swarm has been in the bucket, that BEE SMELL from the Queen becomes your “bee lure”. Use it to your advantage. The bees will come down into the bucket in order to find the Queen. You should have gotten the Queen in the first grab.

You might even leave the pole and bucket up against the tree for a few minutes, in order to the bees to settle in the bucket. You might even put in a few old, black brood frames if you have some extra. Bees love these black frames!

Have your helper take off the hive lid, and dump in more bees. This is repeated about 4 times, or more.

Notice on the hive above, the porch entrance is blocked with a towel. I have placed sugar water on them. I left the hole in the box OPEN. Once the bees get oriented inside this box, they’ll start coming out for a look.

You can go back up for more bees.

Dump them in the box. Each time, you must COLLAPSE the pole.

Leave the pole against the tree for a few minutes. Bees that are flying around, will settle down, and find their way into the bucket to have a look around. You can close the lid again, and bring them down. They’re a bit confused and lost. Help them find their new home!

Letting them settle into their new home.

Let the bucket lure in more bees.

Be patient. Let the smell in the bucket do it’s magic. The bees will look for their Queen BY SMELL. They’ll smell her in the bucket and go down to investigate.

Collapse the pole, bring down more bees.

Dump into hive body. Put the lid back on top of the hive body, but upside down…which makes it easier to remove and put back on. We want this lid to stay on while we work the bucket. I want the bees to come back out of the hole, and begin to fan. They’ll “pooch and fan”, telling their sisters to “Come home! Come home! The food is here, and the Queen is here! Come home!” This is what you’re looking for, so watch the bees closely.

Once most all of the bees are in the box, put the lid back on properly.

Give the hole a squirt of sugar water. Let them get oriented to the front of this box.

When you bring your bucket back down, with more bees in it, just set the bucket facing the front of the hive, or tap the bucket off upside down in front of the hive. They’ll quickly figure out where their new home is located.

All of these bees got up and made their way into their new home. After about an hour, these bees where all settled down in their new home. We left the hive in this wagon over night, giving the Scout bees a chance to make it back into their new home also. Later that night, well after sundown, I came out and plugged the hole with Cotton. Early the next morning, I gently moved this wagon to where I wanted to place them on my property. Sadly, within a week, we had a bad cold snap, and temps got well below freezing and we lost all of these bees. I was heart broken, after having done all that work. We fed them properly, but to no avail. They don’t always grab food that is close by. On the flip side, this was our first big catch with our Pole & Bucket system. We learned a lot, and felt much more confident about our abilities to catch HIGH SWARMS. If there are swarms that are over 22 feet up in a tree, we’ll just let them go. By doing so, I populate the surrounding area with “wild bees”, in hopes of a KICK BACK swarm in the next few years.

Get you a pole at Atwoods and a make you up a bucket or buy one from Brushy Mountain. You’re sure to need one, if you’re going to keep bees!! Otherwise, you’ll be standing there just like I did for 2 years, wondering what to do.

Source: Little Creek Bee Ranch

Catching Honey Bee Swarms

Tags

beekeeping, honey bee swarms, swarm bucket, swarms

 

My bee buddy Dave.

One of the first things that will present itself to us in the spring (actually late, late winter) is swarms. And they are great fun too (unless they are your bees). There are many ways to capture swarms such as trapping and climbing ladders. But one device I have learned to appreciate more than any other for getting me up where I need to be is the extendable pole bucket swarm catcher. I made my bucket after seeing someone else’s. They aren’t difficult to build using an old bucket and a painter’s pole. Oh, the reason I’m posting this today is because this is a great winter project and one you don’t want to be wishing you had built when you see that swarm hanging in a tree.

Trapping Honey Bee Swarms

Tags

beekeeping, beekeeping equipment, honey bee swarms, swarm traps, swarms

A proven site.

Swarm Trap in tree

With a mild winter, swarms can come early to the South Carolina Midlands- around February 15th. That sounds like a long time from now but it will get here sooner than you think and swarms are unforgiving with beekeeper tardiness. Building and getting ready for swarm trapping is something that you should consider doing during these off months of winter. Remember, once swarm season starts you’ll probably be caught up in preparing your own hives for the primary nectar flow and have a limited amount of time to prepare traps. However, for those who are prepared there will be free bees. Here are a few sites I recommend:

http://letmbee.com/do-it-yo…/trapping-quick-reference-guide/

http://www.horizontalhive.com/h…/swarm-trap-free-plans.shtml

http://www.biobees.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17189

And multiple videos by outofabluesky:
https://youtu.be/06zYkH7faeA

I promote swarm traps as another part of good beekeeping. Swarm management starts within your own hives and can go a long way to reducing the number of swarms that issue from your apiary. Intensive management can come close to eliminating swarms. However, life happens and you will experience the occasional swarm. Some thoughts on the matter:

1) The swarms you catch in a trap will typically perform better than the ones you knock out of a tree.

2) You’ll lose a portion of the swarms that issue for various reasons like too high in a tree, etc. It’s really nice when that swarm you had to leave in the tree shows up in your trap the next day.

3) Coupled with good swarm management in the hive, and capture of those swarms easy to gather, adding traps is good stewardship. Dr. Lawrence Connor in his book, Increase Essentials, says only 1 in 6 swarms survive their first winter. By capturing them you’re increasing their chances of survival.

4) Swarm captures makes better neighbors. Some neighbors will be as fascinated as you are at the miracle of swarming; others won’t. Capturing your own swarms may prevent you some heartache.

And finally, here’s an excellent, free, eight page article on the biology on swarming and nest selection with excellent advice on swarm trapping: Bait Hives for Honey Bees by Thomas D. Seeley, Roger Morse, and Richard Nowogrodzki

Swarm trapping can be fun. For beekeepers it satisfies the same urge fishing does for fishermen. A lot of care goes into choosing and selecting the equipment and bait in hopes of finding the right combination which will most closely match the criteria the bees are looking for in a new home. Have some fun this year preparing your bait hives and catching a big swarm. You’ll not only get more bees, you’ll have a story to tell. And take a few pictures and send them in to us to share.

Swarm Trap (Bait Hive) Placement Time

Tags

bait hives, beekeeping equipment, swarm traps, swarms

Swarm trapping can be fun. For beekeepers it satisfies the same urge fishing does for fishermen. A lot of care goes into choosing and selecting the equipment and bait in hopes of finding the right combination which will most closely match the criteria the bees are looking for in a new home.

After several years of swarm trapping I think I have my preferred trap design down pat. A double 5 frame nuc, with one old propolised frame and four empty frames with starter strips in the upper box. The bottom box is empty and the bottom board has a small screened drainage hole is attached. A 1 1/4″ entrance hole with bird excluder (nail) and a with closure disk for quickly closing the entrance for moving. The main entrance is blocked (a screw used as handle if it needs to be removed). Finally, a ratchet strap holds it all together. It’s not heavy and easy to transport. I’ll place this now and bait it with my secret recipe scent attractant. Placement of traps are 75 to 200 yards away from the main bee yard and along tree lines. Height is best at 12 – 15 ft. but I’m not keen on lugging ladders through the woods so I keep them at manageable heights. Scout bees will give the swarm trap a thorough inspection with points given for correct cavity size, correct entrance size, odor, dryness, height, and location. The more of these you satisfy the more points you earn and the greater the likelihood they will choose the trap.

Swarm Traps

Tags

beekeeping, honey bee swarms, spring management, swarm traps, swarms

 

Time to build your swarm traps. Re use the worst of your used or recycled frames covered in the smell of a hive. Strips of foundation, wax or plastic painted with last years wax for increased odor. If you have a frame of partially drawn comb place it in the center of the trap. They will be attracted to the scent and availability of the drawn comb. A few drops of lemongrass oil on a Q-tip placed in… a partially closed baggie placed on top of the frames helps. Entrance should be 1.5 square inches and box size should be about the size of a deep Langstroth (38 – 40 liters). Don’t break a leg trying to position the swarm trap high in a tree. Be safe, place it as high as is comfortable – if it is a well built trap and meets their needs they will choose it.

Swarm Trap Time by BruceLovesBees

Tags

bait hives, beekeeping, swarm traps, swarms

We conclude Swarm Week here at Beekeeping365 with an encouragement to set some bait hives in your area. Follow the well published guidelines regarding cavity volume, height, entrance size, and add the odors of drawn comb and another attractant such as lemongrass oil. It’s fun – like fishing – except for honey bees!

Bruce isn’t playing around this year. He’s upped his game and is going to catch some big swarms! This is what it takes to capture swarms – a dedication to constructing bait hives along the lines of what is known the bees will accept and occupy. Questions? Click on over to Bruce’s blog and post some questions or comments. sassafrasbeefarm

By Bruce Loves Bees:

I’m not playing around this year. Last year, I was so busy chasing swarm calls, and working, that I got way behind on putting my swarm traps up. I managed to get about 20 traps up, but I got them up late, and only caught 6 swarms in my traps. I also used alot of single 5-frame nuc boxes as traps. All of my swarm calls were for swarms over 5 lbs, so none of these would have went into a nuc. A few of them were over 10 lbs and didn’t even fit into a single 10-frame deep. This year, my swarm traps are a minimum of one nuc and one medium.

cont.

Read full blog post here: Swarm Trap Time by Bruce Loves Bees

Hive report: Swarm! by a-single-serving.com

Tags

swarm issuing, swarms

Every year many people send me pictures or videos of their bees with the question, “Are my bees swarming.” Most of the time they are simply bearding due to heat and/or congestion. This post by a-single-serving.com has an excellent video of a swarm issuing from a hive. Warning: It’s quite exciting! 🙂

Yesterday (28 March) it was finally warm enough for me to do a hive inspection at the same time that I could take off work. So I inspected Hive A (affectionately knows as Dave’s Bees). The population was very heavy, there was brood in the deep, and in two medium supers.  I didn’t see much nectar in the hive, but there was pollen.  Unfortunately, the girls got really PO’d part way through and I had to let them calm down. I think that was partly nectar dearth and the fact that it was cloudy and fairly windy. So that inspection was not one where I pulled every single frame. But I didn’t see swarm or superscedure cells, but I did add another medium super to give them some more room.

continued…

Read entire blog post here:  Hive report: Swarm! — a-single-serving.com

How to Catch and Install a Swarm

Tags

beekeeping, education, honey bee behavior, honey bee swarms, management, swarms

 

Source: How to Catch and Install a Swarm — Bee Thinking – Backyard Beekeeping Blog

by Grace Manger

Watch “How to Catch and Install a Swarm” and other beekeeping videos on our YouTube Channel!

via How to Catch and Install a Swarm — Bee Thinking – Backyard Beekeeping Blog

Swarms versus Bee Removals

Tags

beekeeping, cutouts, honey bee removals, honey bee swarms, honey bees, opinion, swarms

This week will most likely herald in the beginning of the spring nectar flow here in the Midlands of South Carolina. A few beekeepers will be caught off guard during the coming weeks, needing equipment, adding hive bodies, and tending to other management issues. Along with these urgent matters there will also be the unexpected swarm issue from hives. So far this year we have focused on preventing swarms and preparations which can be made prior to the swarm season to give the beekeeper the upper hand. We’ll now dedicate a week on how best to deal with swarms once they issue.

Occasionally, bees or wasps will make their home in the  walls  or a tree on your property. While getting them out may be tricky, it is worth finding out if it is possible.  Read more about why you should have them removed instead of exterminating them below.

Typically beekeepers do not do removals  from structures  or trees, but some do. Removals from homes are most often a fee for service situation.  Removals necessitate a specific skill set not taught in beekeeping.

Last year, while responding to honey bee swarm calls, on more than one occasion I arrived only to find that the owner had already sprayed insecticide on the bees. This is almost always a bad idea for several reasons.

First, if it’s a swarm, local beekeepers will typically gladly lend a hand to help you remove the bees and often at little or no charge. You get the bees removed, save yourself and your family exposure to insecticide, and get to feel good about saving one of our environment’s most valued pollinators. If the bees have established a colony within your home things get more complex. Always consult the advice of a bee removal service before spraying insecticides.

Last year, I responded to a swarm call that turned out to be an established colony in a home. The lady of the house was standing outside the home spraying the colony entrance with insecticide. She had already depleted one can and was working on her second. While it may have been as easy as removing a small piece of soffet to extract the bees, I no longer was going to risk bringing back chemically laden bees to my home bee yard. But there is more to it that that. Aside from all her children standing around getting a good dose of the overspray from the can, she was killing the flying bees which feed and support the hive. This meant that thousands of larvae would die shortly thereafter and leave her with a rotting odor inside her home in the days that followed.

Another call I received in late summer had me arrive to find an inpatient landlord spraying inside an attic. He told me that he determined that the bees clustered on the outside were actually entering the house and had established a hive in the attic. He thanked me for coming, but said he didn’t have time to wait as he hoped to have the house rented later that day. Before leaving I told him that unless he wanted a damaged ceiling, drywall and furnishings, he should consider having the hive removed because without the bees fanning the wax comb, the comb would melt releasing perhaps gallons of honey, and he’d be receiving complains from his new tenants. (not to mention the smell of decaying bees and larva and attracting ants, roaches, and other pests for months to come).

In closing, consider that spraying the bees is a poor effort to quickly eliminate a complex problem, and will often lead to more expensive problems in the days that follow. The time spent consulting a local beekeeper or bee removal service first is time well invested.

We hope this external  link assists you in your search to find someone locally in the USA:
http://www.bees-on-the-net.com

For more information on bees in structures visit Clemson Extension’s webpage: Honey Bee Colony Removal From Structures.

The Importance of Swarm Control

Tags

beekeeping, management, swarms

This was done online at canva – I was full of ideas until I started playing with it, it’s not the final one .. but was interesting to have a play with. It needs making more even. The templates are there to play with so I might have another go and see what I can […]

via Playing at infographics… — bbkamodules

The Eternal Question – How to prevent swarming? by The Walrus and the Honeybee

Tags

beekeeping, honey bees, Swarm control, swarm prevention, swarms

How to prevent swarming?

I previously wrote about some potential factors involved in the swarming of honey bees and why swarm prevention and control are so important for the beekeeper. The idea that we can prevent swarms is probably misguided; it is after all what bees are programmed to do, it is how they reproduce, but we must nevertheless educate ourselves and do what little we can in this regard.

The people who are most qualified to advise on swarming, or any other honey bee management topic, are the commercial honey farmers who manage thousands of colonies and rely upon their efforts to earn their living from it. This is why I will be quoting from such people extensively here – they have lived and breathed a life with bees and I would rather take heed of their words than those of a keen hobbyist or a well read scholar.

“If I were to meet a man perfect in the entire science and art of bee-keeping, and were allowed from him an answer to just one question, I would ask for the best and easiest way to prevent swarming.” C.C.Miller, Fifty Years Among the Bees

more…

Read full article here: The Eternal Question — The Walrus and the Honeybee

Swarming Season by Roads End Naturalist

Tags

honey bee biology, swarms

The happiness of the bee and the dolphin is to exist. For man it is to know that and to wonder at it.

~Jacques Yves Cousteau

Just at closing one day this week, a coworker at the Garden sent an email alerting everyone to a swarm of honeybees just outside the back gate. I was getting ready for programs the next day so wasn’t able to get down there for an hour or so, but finally grabbed the camera and went out to see if I could find it. I asked a couple of people that were standing there talking if they knew the location of the swarm, but they had not seen it. About then, I saw some flying insects, and quickly found a ball of bees about 12 feet up on a small tree trunk.

Read more here: Swarming Season — Roads End Naturalist

Swarm Preparations – Fitness by Jack Lalanne

Tags

honey bee swarms, Jack Lalanne, swarms

I know, you really just want another piece of fruitcake and another glass of egg nog. But you also need to start getting ready for swarm season. So while you’re chillin’ inside on this cold day, here’s Jack Lalanne to help you prepare physically for this coming swarm season. If you’re like me, in just a couple months, you’ll be looking in the trees every time you visit the bee yard. I’m not going to get a sore neck this swarm season by walking around looking for swarms everywhere and thinking I hear one anytime I’m outside. What am I going to do? I’m going to get started with Jack Lalanne now! Fast forward to the 40 second mark for swarm fitness!

 

The Brood Food Theory of Swarming by Aberdeen and District Beekeepers’ Association (SCIO)

Tags

beekeeping, management, swarms

From David Morland, ADBKA Chair: I learnt recently that my Grandfather was the first bee scientist at Rothamsted and one of the founder members of the International Bee Research Association (IBRA). His books and papers were passed on to Eva Crane whose own collection was the foundation of the IBRA library. He was succeeded as […]

Read full text here:  The Brood Food Theory of Swarming — Aberdeen and District Beekeepers’ Association (SCIO)

In the Spring a Not-So-Young Woman’s Fancy Lightly Turns to Thoughts of Bees

Tags

beekeeping, beekeeping history, honey bee behavior, honey bee biology, seasons, swarms

A Facebook friend’s post this week told how a large honeybee swarm had taken up residence in an empty hive on his property. All on its own! He’d left the hive out all winter, “seasoning it with lemon grass every month,” (rubbing lemon grass into the wood), and the day before saw a scout bee […]

Continued here: In the Spring a Not-So-Young Woman’s Fancy Lightly Turns to Thoughts of Bees — florasforum

Swarm Traps – baiting and staging

Tags

beekeeping, management, swarms

Hanging Traps All but 6 traps have been baited and staged, out of the way. You might be wondering, “why so early?” Bees won’t be swarming yet in Indiana. To that I’d say you are right, but there are TWO good reasons to get traps baited and staged a little early. Much of what you read…

via Swarm Traps – baiting and staging — LetMBee Blog

Swarm Trapping on the Survival Podcast

Tags

beekeeping, honey bee behavior, swarms

Source: Swarm Trapping on the Survival Podcast – air date 9/31/2013 — LetMBee Blog

by Jason

Swarm Season is approaching in the Northern Hemisphere, I can see that interest in the subject is growing from my Stats.  In the coming weeks I will be talking about some podcasts I have been on about Bees.  They will be posted in chronological order.  If you have some time and want to hear about trapping and treatment-free beekeeping give them a listen.

The Survival Podcast Episode – 1217 – On Capturing Wild Swarms
Air Date 9/31/2013

Episode-1217- Jason Bruns on Capturing Wild Swarms

 

In this podcast from 2013 I had been trapping for only a couple years.  I can hear the lack of confidence in some of my responses, but others surprised me with how inspired I had already become with trapping and observing the resulting colonies grow and become productive.  Several times, Jack questioned as to why I was doing different things.  This was was particularly true when asking about placing traps near known bee trees.  The reason I was doing it was because I didn’t know what would happen.  The experiments I was working on at that time led me to the methods I am currently using.

Some of the practices I was using then have changed.  Other more productive practices have been picked up through observation.  Of specific note in this podcast:  I currently recommend you literally place swarm traps, anywhere you can.  You never know what’s going to happen.  I have been capturing hardy stock at established yards repeatedly now for a couple years.  At the time of this recording I had never observed this behavior.  If you have a hive-stand and it’s not full of active colonies there should be a baited hive body setting there.  If you find productive lines of bees that overwinter well and swarm back to the hive stand it is a great way to increase your number of colonies.

Jack tripped me up a little while discussing trapping in locations with Africanized honeybees.  I still have no direct experience with AHB, but feel confident that honeybees can be safely captured where both are living.  After trap occupation they should be evaluated for aggression.  A larger trap volume is theorized to be preferred by European Honeybees.  If you live in a location known to have AHB use traps of at least 31 LITERS and make sure they are bee tight.  Standard Langstroth deeps are slightly larger than 40 liters and are a great resource as a starting material for swarm traps.

I have communicated with hundreds of people trapping bees in AHB areas over the years since this was recorded.  I have received no reports of individuals catching bees in traps that were too aggressive to work.  The bees are reported as “hotter” than those typically purchased as packages, but they DON’T DIE.  Bees living a feral existence are not bred for docility.  I will take bees that require a veil, gloves and smoke to dead bees, so I feel I can tolerate “some” expression of guard behavior.

If captured bees display an unacceptable level of aggression a couple avenues are available.  Perhaps another beekeeper in your area would be willing to take them.  If they have secluded bee yards perhaps they could be left alone to be productive.  If they are too aggressive for you or give away they should be SELECTED AGAINST and destroyed.  Luckily I’ve never felt the need to do this.  I would recommend it be done in the trap using a method that did not use chemicals.  When evaluating CATCHES, observe the level of aggression.  If they do not meet your criteria they can at least be shut into the trap and disposed of.  Then get to catching more bees.

Jack’s show, The Survival Podcast is a daily mix of practical knowledge about steps that can be taken to create a stable fulfilling life in today’s world.  Many of these seemingly different topics have aided at different times in my beekeepin experience.  Jack introduced me to the design science of Permaculture, which led me to Swarm Trapping.  Visualizing a dead colony of bees as a resource instead of as a direct loss, and turning a “waste product” into more bees came from reading about Permaculture.  I highly recommend the show and think listening to it will make you a better beekeeper.  If you listen you will find that it will help your life in general.

Being self sufficient is at the heart of beekeeping, both for bees and beekeepers.  Sourcing through trapping allows for you to obtain local bees by building a simple device.  Many swarms can be captured in a single trap over many years with minimal maintenance.  Breaking the bond between a colony of bees and a PRICE-TAG makes beekeeping much more fun and easy to justify as a use of your time.  Trapping makes you more resilient.  You can take the PUNCH of losing colonies and not be OUT of beekeeping.  Take the opportunity listen to 1217 and other episodes of the The Survival Podcast.

Here is a link to the original posting about this episode from 9/30/2013.

Are you getting exciting as Spring approaches?
Are you ready?!?

via Swarm Trapping on the Survival Podcast – air date 9/31/2013 — LetMBee Blog

Time for Midlands Swarm Traps

Tags

beekeeping, management, swarms

Using waxed nuc boxes this year for swarm traps.