Author Topic: Swarm traps (Read 3400 times)

jtcmedic · « **on:** February 24, 2018, 04:51:12 pm »

Put out some swarm traps , and put one in my deer stand, will see if it continues to provide like it did thisfall.

Redlands Okie · « **Reply #1 on:** February 24, 2018, 09:51:48 pm »

Pictures no show here

BeeMaster2 · « **Reply #2 on:** February 25, 2018, 12:25:32 am »

I also put out 8 swarm traps today. I'm hoping to catch a few feral hives early. Had a call for an open air hive removal that turned out to be a MBH.

A Mobile Bee Hive. In other words it was a swarm. I wish it really was an open air hive.
Jim

Bush_84 · « **Reply #3 on:** February 25, 2018, 02:01:41 pm »

I was happy to catch a single swarm last year. Will be putting up another trap there this year. I made up a few more. Will have to see if I can get any takers.

Van, Arkansas, USA · « **Reply #4 on:** February 25, 2018, 02:24:56 pm »

Good luck with the swarm traps. I am probably the only beek on Beemaster that does not want swarms. I try to breed bees against that trait. Or at least have a low tendency to swarm.

Understand I would luv to get my hand on true feral genetics, yes sir, in that case I would grab a swarm, but I haven?t figured out how to tell the difference between feral and Apiary swarms or if a swarm is healthy. In Arkansas I would have to quarantine the swarm if I brought one into my Apiary.
Blessings

BeeMaster2 · « **Reply #5 on:** February 25, 2018, 02:39:02 pm »

Van,
I can tell the difference by looking at the mite drop in the dry oil pans. The feral bees have very few and the swarms from the commercial hives are full of them.
Jim

BeeMaster2 · « **Reply #6 on:** February 25, 2018, 02:44:13 pm »

Quote from: Bush_84 on February 25, 2018, 02:01:41 pm

I was happy to catch a single swarm last year. Will be putting up another trap there this year. I made up a few more. Will have to see if I can get any takers.

Bush,
I used to get a swarm in the stack of Supers that I had by my door, year after year, for 3 years. I would do it again but I now have renters in that house.
Jim

Van, Arkansas, USA · « **Reply #7 on:** February 25, 2018, 05:36:46 pm »

Jim, good info about the swarms vrs mites. Thanks

BeeMaster2 · « **Reply #8 on:** February 25, 2018, 08:07:32 pm »

Van,
No problem. I used to just let those commercial swarms continue and they always failed during the winter. If I catch them this year I will re queen them from one of my feral hives.
Jim

yes2matt · « **Reply #9 on:** March 02, 2018, 07:06:46 am »

Quote from: jtcmedic on February 24, 2018, 04:51:12 pm

Put out some swarm traps , and put one in my deer stand, will see if it continues to provide like it did thisfall.

Oh, yeah! DUH! Why didn't I think of putting one in the deer stand? That's too easy! ... bee right back...

Bush_84 · « **Reply #10 on:** March 02, 2018, 09:49:42 am »

Quote from: sawdstmakr on February 25, 2018, 02:44:13 pm

Quote from: Bush_84 on February 25, 2018, 02:01:41 pm
I was happy to catch a single swarm last year. Will be putting up another trap there this year. I made up a few more. Will have to see if I can get any takers.
Bush,
I used to get a swarm in the stack of Supers that I had by my door, year after year, for 3 years. I would do it again but I now have renters in that house.
Jim

I put one on top of my kids swing set, which is very tall. The roof is way over their heads. I got zero interest. I think it was in a wind blown location and in full sun. I figure that I?ll just hang one in the same location that I caught one last year and hang the rest at friends houses.

BeeMaster2 · « **Reply #11 on:** March 02, 2018, 01:54:08 pm »

I just moved a swarm trap from inside of my barn to the top of my pay phone. They were not the paying any attention to it in the barn but they are already checking it out. I have caught several swarms from traps that were on top of this phone when it was in Jacksonville.
I really hope I catch a swarm in this trap because I plan on using it for a cutout for Beefest 2018. I did not put any frames in it.
Jim

little john · « **Reply #12 on:** March 02, 2018, 02:17:03 pm »

Quote from: Van, Arkansas, USA on February 25, 2018, 02:24:56 pm

Good luck with the swarm traps. I am probably the only beek on Beemaster that does not want swarms.

No - I'm the same - they're the last thing in the world I want to see. Quality's the name of the game for me these days, not quantity.
LJ

tjc1 · « **Reply #13 on:** March 06, 2018, 10:53:10 am »

Quote from: little john on March 02, 2018, 02:17:03 pm

Quote from: Van, Arkansas, USA on February 25, 2018, 02:24:56 pm
Good luck with the swarm traps. I am probably the only beek on Beemaster that does not want swarms.

No - I'm the same - they're the last thing in the world I want to see. Quality's the name of the game for me these days, not quantity.
LJ

Hmmm - that puts a different spin on how I think about swarms; I've never caught one, but had hoped to - but maybe it's not worth it given our current realities and the observations made here.

Bush_84 · « **Reply #14 on:** March 06, 2018, 11:27:10 am »

If you are interested in increasing your colony count and have a chance to catch a swarm do it. You can always requeen. It?s much cheaper to buy or make a Queen than to buy a package or nuc. Refusing a swarm because you don?t want the genetics is as easy to fix as requeening a hive.

iddee · « **Reply #15 on:** March 06, 2018, 12:42:49 pm »

Given a choice of mass produced queen or a natural raised queen in a swarm, I will take the swarm anytime. If LJ is raising queens from chosen stock, that is a different ball game.

Bush_84 · « **Reply #16 on:** March 06, 2018, 07:15:31 pm »

The point is more that queens are replaceable. The source is of no consequence because people will ultimately choose the source they desire. It?s the bees you want.

BeeMaster2 · « **Reply #17 on:** March 06, 2018, 07:24:10 pm »

I?ll tie a feral swarm any day.
I think that what LJ is saying is that he only wants his bees in his area to keep the same genetics for his queens. He does not want the feral drones in range of his queens.
LJ, do you have drone producing hives placed far enough from your matting nucs to control the genetics?
Jim

little john · « **Reply #18 on:** March 06, 2018, 07:25:38 pm »

Just to clarify - at the moment I already have far more colonies than I need for my own experiments, and it's the easiest thing in the world to just keep multiplying them - the only limiting factors then become the number of boxes available and the cost of sugar for winter feed.

So why on earth would I want swarms ? They're just more bees that I don't have any need for - and more importantly - they're bees from unknown sources. When I re-started beekeeping a fair time ago - I used to collect every available swarm in order to swell apiary numbers. But, those swarms were ALL (with the exception of just the one) really bad-tempered mongrels which I then had to re-queen.

Sure, I could still re-queen swarms - but re-queening doesn't cure aggression immediately - that takes a month to six weeks - and I'm no longer prepared to put up with that kind of nonsense when I really don't need to.

So - I'll let someone-else collect swarms around here, and wish them the very best of luck ...
LJ

little john · « **Reply #19 on:** March 06, 2018, 07:37:25 pm »

Quote from: sawdstmakr on March 06, 2018, 07:24:10 pm

LJ, do you have drone producing hives placed far enough from your matting nucs to control the genetics?

Hi Jim - yes. And not just that, but because this is a nectar-poor area there are very few beekeepers 'within range' - so with the amount of colonies on site right now I'm pretty-much flooding the area with my own genetics - which is a good situation to be in, providing new blood is brought in from time to time - which is currently every two years.

I know it must sound a little unusual to folk who are just starting out - but there is such a thing as having too many bees ! In fact, I'm beginning to consider down-sizing a little, in order to keep things manageable.
'best,
LJ