Update on trap out

[carlfaba10t]

Well i wanted to let IDDEE know i tried [the cleo hogan] method for trapping bees from oak tree,and guess he was right! the bees are stubborn as a Missouri mule and refuse to go through the 2 inch polly tube i have between trap box and the tree fitting.I used old brood comb and LGO as bait in box.The bees just gather around the fitting where hole was at in tree.Three days now and i am ready to give up.If i had frame of eggs or brood i would use the wire cone method,but my bees swarmed about 3 weeks ago and did not leave enough bees to re queen or tend to hatching brood.As the new brood that was left behind hatched out they crawled out of hive and died in a few days. :(

[iddee]

Sorry it didn't work. I keep hoping someone will find a way to trap out the queen, but you aren't the first to report a failure. Others swear by it. I'm still watching the reports come in. Maybe it will work out after a few try it and make a few modifications or Cleo explains it a bit better. It seems to work for him.

[wayne]

  Back when bee gums were common the beeks would drum the bees out of an unsuitable gum into a prepared one.  I have moved bees in cut offs into standard hives by drumming and it does work, but not as cleanly or easiely as I would have liked.
  I have considered using Beequick and drilling into the bottom of the cavity but haven't tried it yet.
  Until someone comes up with a better idea I will keep splitting hives to make bait hives.

[MTWIBadger]

I have read a lot of posts from Cleo Hogan and you can find his e-mail address on Beesource. He always responds to my questions.

I caught a queen in a trapout last week and it wasn't even baited with uncapped brood.  The queen just moved in a started laying and I opened it up and there she was.

Here are a few key points in his trapout.  Keep the tunnel from the tree entrance and the super as short as possible. The ones I have done are 2-4 inches in length.  Keep the tunnel as dark/solid as possible. Tape up the cracks. My tunnels are over 5 inches in diameter connecting to a 2 inch hole in the back of the super.

Bait the trapout with uncapped brood frame without any bees on it. This uncapped brood will attract the young house bees and the queen.  The rest of the frames need to be pulled out so the queen has a place to lay.  Frames without any foundation/comb will not attract bees. Trust me on this point.

Check the super daily if you want the queen and remove it when she is in the super laying.  I use the trapout bees to add to my other hives to strengthen them and don't want to get the queen.


Cleo said he gets the queen 100% from the trees and 50% from houses. He mostly makes sure he does not have the queen so he can do multiple trapouts a year on one bee tree.

I've tried small pieces of brood comb as bait in a trapout and didn't get a good response so I'm back to using a full frame of uncapped brood.

I have 4 trees with permanent setups for a trapout and all I have to do is place a super in front of the bee tree entrance.

 

[carlfaba10t]

Thanks for all reply's, I think it depends on what mode the bees are in at the time,and who knows what a bee will do on any given day to day basis.I will check trap out today and see if anything has changed.The tube is now about 10 in long after i shortened it.Like some of you guys and girls i work most of day and do not have the time i would like to spend with my bees.The bee tree is about a 30 min drive from home,so the travel time is not too bad.If i cant get this trap out to work i will regroup and try something else. :-\

[carlfaba10t]

Today i am happy to report i checked on trap out from oak tree and was glad to see the bees are in trap out hive and doing what i had hoped for.I may be getting a bit near sited, but i swear i saw a drone mating with what looked like virgin queen on stalk of grass in front of hive. [Why would they have made new queen?] And if so is there a possibility that old queen will come into new hive and kill her if she takes up residence in trap out hive? I know i still have a lot to learn,but was really happy that trap seems to be working.Will update next week with pics. :)