late season swarm

With the help of the Nextdoor website and the homeowner's 6 foot ladder I brought this late season swarm down in pieces.  Removing the lowest cluster of bees revealed yet another, then yet another clump of bees each higher up. I underestimated the size of this late season swarm and the July afternoon heat. With many of the bees inside the 5-frame box I left the site hoping the bees on the outside would continue to walk into the box.

I returned at sunset to collect the 5-frame box, but the swarm capture was not successful.

March 13th swarm

This small March 13th swarm did not outgrow their 5-frame home, but moisture management was not optimum and the old wood nucleus box was failing - see the new hole in the lower right corner of the brown box.  The bees are very calm, I moved the frames into a new 8-frame home using no smoke. These photos are taken hours later and all the bees attached to their old home have moved on.

Their new 8-frame home has loads of ventilation:

• Hive stand is 13 inches tall.
• Bottom board is screened and I'm not using a counting board.   
• Inner cover has a ventilation notch.

My intention is to add deep frames of capped honey in August.

Nextdoor website - swarm collection

My first swarm catch of 2020, thanks to a message on the Nextdoor website.  Very small in size, but did not required a ladder.   I brought sugar water in a spray bottle, but I changed my mind and simply transferred snipped-off twig with bees into 5-frame nucleus box.   As is typical, not all the bees went into the box so I left the nucleus box there till sunset for a complete catch.   This Betterbee Nucleus Box ships with a Hive Portal which contained the bees for the drive home.

betterbee wood nucleus box attracts swarm

I created 5 swarm traps - all contain some dark brood comb and a swarm lure.  After many days of scouting, the swarm selects one - yellow highlighter indicates the characteristics of the selected swarm trap.:

• entrance size and geometry -  1" round or 12" x 3/4" rectangle
• entrance height above ground -  3' or 16'
• entrance orientation - south, east or west
• cavity volume - 1387 cubic inch or 5030 cubic inch
• direct morning sun or no morning sunshine

Not every combination was created

• 3 large volume swarm traps have a 12" x 3/4" entrances which face west and are 3 feet above ground.  
• 2 small volume swarm traps have a 1" round entrance facing either south or east and are 16 feet above ground. 

As the swarm trap contains movable frames, there is no urgency to lower the nucleus box to a shady ground location.  If morning sun played a significant role in their cavity selection, then let them enjoy the sun while the weather is still cool and wet.

betterbee wood nucleus box as a swarm trap

In past years I used compressed paper swarm traps with some success.  However the betterbee wood nucleus box may have a few advantages compared to paper based solutions:

• Does not require a ladder to put the swarm trap in place
• Swarm trap can be placed higher in the tree
• After attracting a swarm, the trap can be left in place longer
• The box base screwed to the box walls and migratory cover are ideal for rope suspension 

A long tree loper/saw pole is used to place a guide rope through a Y of a crapemyrtle tree.  Beneath the Y, the tree trunk is encircled by a plastic tubing covered rope with a locking quick link and final rope. I used the guide rope to pull the final rope into place at the Y of the tree.  Inside the box are five frames with 1 inch wax foundation strips and one pheromone lure.  The heavy ~12 lb weight of the box keeps the box in place without additional straps.  The tree loper/saw pole is also used to turn the box so that the box entrance faces south, but definitely no ladder is required.    Plastic tubing is also used to protect/secure 1) the box and 2) the tree trunk at the final rope tie-off.