My first swarm trap

[Acebird]

I got a call from a friend who has a neighbor with a swarm yesterday.  Yesterday was too busy a day for me to get to it immediately but I got to it in the evening after the neighbor emptied two cans of wasp spray on the house to discourage the bees from entering.  So I spend an hour with him trying to explain why he was wrong.  The swarm first landed in a tree 4 feet off the ground.  Had I been there to get it, it would have been a cream puff.  By the time I got there there were two groups of bees on the roof but small.  I left a swarm box with brood comb and some of last years lemon grass on the bottom board.
Today the neighbor calls me and tells me he thinks the bees are going in the box (about 12) going in and out.  He did some research today and found some concoction of vinegar that would repel bees still trying to discourage the bees from going in his house.  Is there any way to convince people that don't understand bees to STOP?
Apparently he doesn't believe me that there is no way to keep bees out of your house if you have a hundred or so easy access points.
The house is a wood framed construction that is cobble stone faced with cob job trim around the windows and eves.  Literally across the street is two old barns that have honeybees in the walls that belong to another neighbor.  I suspect that is were the swarm came from.  I am told bees have been in the barn for years.

I have had several calls last year for swarms that are in an old Victorian or up 100 ft in a tree but this is the first easy access to a swarm that I have gotten and it sounds like this happens every year.  Now if I could only get the house owner to stop messing with them.

[CBEE]

hard to say. some people just freak out and it makes no difference what you or anyone else tells them. See if they will let you keep the swarm box there through swarm season to give them some place to go if they swarm again instead of the house. Scout bees will come and go and you would be surprised at how many sometimes. I sat a empty deep on my deck and caught a swarm in it a couple days ago. Wife says its not staying there

[Acebird]

Yes I did manage to get him to let me keep the box there, not that I expect to get this swarm that has little chance of survival but more so he can learn what not to be afraid of.  I think it may work because he is excited to see bees going in and out of the box.   Who knows he might keep bees himself.  I know his wife likes honey.  So there is a jar in her future if I pull a hive from this episode.

[BeeMaster2]

Brian,
I have dealt with a lot of people who over reacted (one used fire) and I took the time to tell them some of the things that the bees do and also worked with the bees showed them how calm and gentle they could be. I usually show them that I could pet the bees. I did this to an elderly woman that had them in their empty mother  in law house. I also explained how good they were for the numerous fruit trees she and her neighbors had and she agreed to let the bees stay in the house rather them kill them or take the 60 year old siding off of the house. I left her my information and told her if she changed her mind to give her a call. That was 2 months ago, no calls.
Jim

[Acebird]

I wish I could be as calm as you are with the bees.  I hate wearing all the garb.

[CBEE]

Dont like the garb much either but I'll tell ya its like insurance. better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. I've seen nice calm hives turn ugly on a dime and lite you up good.  Thats right .. running for the hills screaming for your mommy

[BeeMaster2]

I've been run out of a hive or 2. One I started working on 2 hours before sunset trying to find the queen for queen rearing. It started getting dark due to a storm cloud and they came out and tore me up.
I depend on bee stings to keep full range of movement in my shoulders.
Jim

[bwallace23350]

How does a swarm box differ from a regular hive box?

[Acebird]

The box is no different.  It should have brood comb but no brood.  It usually has a lure, either pheromone or lemon oil.

[Duffydog]

The box is no different.  It should have brood comb but no brood.  It usually has a lure, either pheromone or lemon oil.

I have just placed a swarm trap but did not have any brood comb left so I used just new foundation and  some lemongrass attractant that I had purchased  from Brushy Mountain. Actually smells very good. Do you think I can get by with just the new frames and the attractant? I did include a frame of comb from a super even though the frames I used are standard size... thats all Ihad.

[Acebird]

Anything is better than nothing.  Is the box new also?  Better to use a box that bees have been in so it smells like a bee hive.

[KeyLargoBees]

I scavenged some propolis from my hives as well as a block of some old brood comb wax and scrubbed the inside of my swam traps with both....between that and some swarm commander I am at 24 swarms off of 10 traps this year :-) But then again we do have a LOT of feral hives that are easy to locate so its sort of like shooting fish in a barrel when you know where to put the traps.