Free Bees!?
What a proposition!
As we all know, bee hives have a natural inclination to swarm, and swarming is a colony's way of reproducing. As beekeepers, if we can catch a swarm in process of looking for a new home, or actually bait a swarm and entice them to move into a trap we set, we have the benefit of 'free bees!"
Swarms can be a great way to increase your apiary size or just replace colonies lost over a year. Swarm catching is quite fun and always makes for a great story. (I've got plenty so share over a beer sometime...) But in the past year I've decided baiting swarms are my preferred method of reaping the benefit of a swarming hive in the neighborhood. The past two years is the first time I've really invested in hanging swarm traps, and I've had about a 25% success rate. (And I suspect that rate would be much higher if I was better about regularly applying my lure!) Today I'll share some best tips with you on how to bait a swarm!
The Trap
Literally anything can be used as a swarm trap, but I strongly recommend you use a vessel that will hold frames. This makes the transfer of the colony super easy. (It then basically becomes a nucleus colony installation!) I mostly use wooden 6-frame nuc boxes because they have two of my favorite attributes--they are free and on hand (this is what our nucs from our supplier are delivered in) and easy, in that using them doesn't require any additional labor or building on my part. (Feel free to stop by the Honey Ranch and pick one up for $20!).
Dr. Thomas Seeley, one of my favorite bee book authors, wrote Honey Bee Democracy (you can pick this up in the shop too!) detailing his life's work studying swarms in the wild. From his research we know what bees prefer, and I always recommend my apprentices try to follow the lessons gleaned from his research.
Dr. Seeley's research found that swarms prefer to move into homes:
- whose capacity is between 10 - 10 liters. He found that 40-60 liters was the sweet spot. For your reference, a 10 frame deep hive body is 43 liters and an 8 frame medium hive body is 24 liters. Using a deep hive body or two medium hive bodies affixed together would fit nicely in the sweet spot! It's worth noting that the nuc hive bodies that I use are about 26 liters and they work out well. Perhaps I would have better luck with a larger capacity, but again, they are free and easy and work enough so I'll stick with it!
- have a southern facing entrance
- have an entrance of about 2 inches (our nucs have a much wider entrance, so I often use a shim to limit the entrance size)
- are roughly 5 meters (16 feet) from the ground, with at least 8 feet or higher being ideal. This is another area where I don't follow his research to a T--getting a trap 16 feet above the ground is one thing...getting it out of the tree full of bees is another. I usually aim for 6-8 feet and still have success.
Of course, I've seen tons of established hives in the wild that are in smaller or larger ensclosures (and even some that are open air hives!) or are nesting in the ground...I provide the guidelines for you to take into consideration to help with your planning. If you can't meet all these attributes, do as many as you can to help increase your chances. I've caught many a swarm in empty hives set up in the yard! (This is why you should always have frames in any equipment you have laying around outside! If a swarm moves in you want them to build on your frames, not freestyle!)
The Lure
Now you need a lure to entice the bees to choose your trap over another home. Choosing used nuc boxes or hive bodies has an advantage because they already smell like 'home' to the bees. You'll also want to use a bit of lure as well. You can buy lure from beekeeping supply stores, but I find it's pretty expensive and it's so easy to make at home that I don't see why you might buy it. Lots of recipes to be found online, but I'll share my favorite below. The lemongrass oil mimics the queen's pheromones and bees go gaga for it.
Ingredients:
- 2 TBSP beeswax
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 40 drops lemongrass oil
Directions: Heat beeswax and olive oil together until it's melted. Stir thoroughly and remove from heat. Add essential oil, stir, and pour into jar. Smear a few teaspoons inside the trap, and another teaspoon at the entrance. Reapply every 3 weeks.
Set it, and try not to forget it!
Set your trap, making sure to secure it so it doesn't fall lose from wherever it is hung. I use bungee cords or straps to affix my traps to a tree. Make sure to reapply your lure every 2-3 weeks. If you do catch a swarm, be sure to wait a few weeks (or until you see them bringing in pollen) to make sure they have really moved in and made the trap their new home before you move them! Close it up (or move it at night) to their new home so you make sure to take all the foragers with you. I usually pull it out of the tree and transfer it to full size hive, and then add a robbing screen I can close up at night and then move it the next morning. We've got some awesome robbing screens at the Ranch general store that are easy to close up and work well for this purpose. You can watch a video below of me removing a swarm from a trap caught by the fall 2021 apprenticeship class!
Have you gotten into swarm traps or got any memorable swarm catching stories? Hit reply and tell me about it!
Fall Apprenticeship is now open!
In other news, our fall apprenticeship is now open for registration! We are now in our 13th running of this premier educational offering. We only offer this program twice a year, and we do sell out.
Want to learn everything from how to catch and bait swarms, split hives, harvest, use integrated pest management to control for pests and disease and more? This program is for you. Over 6 Saturdays, you will receive 50+ hours of in-person instruction, and half of those hours will be spent suited up inspecting bee hives.
By dedicating one Saturday a month, you will see the vast seasonality involved in beekeeping, and receive hands-on instruction to learn how what we can expect each season, what interventions may be required, and how to respond to what has become unpredictable Texas weather.
Your registration includes all the tools and gear you’ll need as a beekeeper, all your texts, and lunch at one of Austin’s premier farm to table restaurants each month. The best way to learn beekeeping is alongside an experienced beekeeper, and I'm so proud of the program and community we have built.
Interested in joining 19 other likeminded individuals in an education program like no other? You can learn more here, register, or just hit reply and I can tell you more about it! Apprenticeship Saturdays are my favorite day of the month, and I would love if you would join me. We are already 1/3 sold out, so inquire soon!
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