MABA swarm hotline

For me, collecting swarms or attracting swarms to bait hives is the most exciting part of my beekeeping.  Possibly making spring my favorite beekeeping season.  

 

Sunday at 1PM I received a text from the MABA "swarm commander" - a homeowner has called the swarm hotline about a swarm in their yard.   The best part of the text details...the swarm address is 3 miles away and the swarm is just a foot or two above the ground.  I'm all in and arrive in the next half hour.

 

I strongly relate to E.O. Wilson's connection to nature as not outgrowing his childhood bug phase. Knowing everyone does not share this view, I consciously met the homeowner's insect concerns with lots of listening about the swarm of bees. The re-framing education moment comes next - I say "that huge ball hanging from the tree canopy is a wasp nest, these bees likely have their nest in a cavity, like a tree."   

A few weeks ago, I patched up and painted my old wood nucleus box.  Wow, I'm ready for the swarm call-out, or so I thought.  Good - my bee toolbox has a bag of gloves. Bad - the gloves are too small, too old - they split and I quickly gave up wearing gloves.   The bees don't like the brushing or the hand attached to the yellow brush - my poor hand!

I added a swarm lure to the nucleus box entrance, brush, brush, brush again...and I'm nearly there.    I leave the nucleus box for collection just before dusk, 7:30PM.   So proud of myself to discover no bees returned to the trunk of the shrub.

summer inspection of 2023 swarms

This spring 3 swarms selected one of my 4 swarm traps as their nest cavity. During summer heat, I waited for a cool dawn to inspect these swarms now moved into 8-frame hives. That cool morning arrived with 69 °F (20.6 °C) temperatures.  

As usual, the preparation was longer than the actual inspection task that included lighting the smoker -- just in case 😉.  I even remembered to take out the SuperDFM probiotic from the refrigerator.  

The bees did not take flight or behave defensively - the smoker was not used.  

I added one tablespoon (15 ml) of probiotic to the top bars and workers moved to gather this sweet treat - sucrose is the primary ingredient. The first iPhone photo has the best color balance and shows dramatic red propolis on the top bars. The last 2 photos required correction as the brilliant white probiotic screwed up the iPhone color balance.

Vera and Slava (makers of SuperDFM) write, "Multiple bacteria are present in all nectars, pollens, propolis and the environment. Honey bees need these bacteria to aid not only in digestion, but also to improve immune response and combating stressors detrimental to their health." 

ChatGPT generated haiku 

Summer hive's embrace,
Dearth shadows, health blooms within,
Immune strength sustains.

Swarm Trap - May 12th 2023

On Friday, May 12th

• 2:00 PM - active scouting at one swarm trap, zero scouting at other traps 
• 3:00 PM - very active scouting at one swarm trap, zero scouting at other traps
• 6:24 PM - air is thick with bees
• 6:48 PM - the majority of bees settled on the outside of the swarm trap and began to move in
• 8:23 PM - bees reversed and are on the outside of the trap

On Saturday, May 13th

• setup 8-frame deep box near the swarm trap; in the last photo, check out the homemade rectangular UV-reactive blue 8-frame entrance
• add a queen excluder beneath the deep box
• spray the bees with sugar water
• carefully lower the swarm trap
• carefully walk the swarm trap to the deep box
• spray the bees with sugar water
• brush bees into the deep box
• add frames
• move the pheromone lure from the swarm trap to the landing board
• add an inner cover and telescoping lid
• after 2 hours, all the loose bees have reoriented to their new home

On Sunday, May 14th

• add a gallon pail feeder with 32 ounces of 1:1 syrup

I'm guessing that 

• the swarm was hanging very close to their preferred swarm trap, and the scout bees ignored my other swarm traps
  
• this swarm contains more than 1 queen

moving swarm to 8-frame equipment

Today I moved the swarm to 8-frame equipment. In one week, all 5 frames had similar new comb construction on the plastic starter strips. 

I moved the swarm lure to the 8-frame landing board, and the remaining bees entered the 8-frame equipment in under 2 hours - I did not bump bees off the swarm trap. In the last photo, notice the homemade rectangular UV-reactive blue 8-frame entrance.

The bees returned with cream-colored Tulip Poplar pollen and slowly consumed 1:1 syrup.

Swarm Trap - March 28th 2023

The moment I've been waiting for!

On February 20th, I set out two 40-liter swarm traps hanging from crepe myrtle limbs.   Each swarm trap contains:

• 5x deep frames with plastic starter strips
• UV-reactive blue swarm trap entrance
• synthetically produced Nasonov pheromone
  

In another 3 days, scout bees visited the swarm traps.  Though I waited for 33 more days before a swarm would select one of the swarm traps.

swarm abscond

After a 3 week vacation, I returned to a hive with:

• no May 10th swarm bees
• no wax capping waste on the screened bottom board
• wax moth egg laying concentrated on the only frame of dark comb
  
• most amazing, no small hive beetle (SHB) destruction which makes me more convinced that the bees absconded leaving no brood or honey behind for SHB
  

I found the pre-cleanup look too sci-fi horrific for the blog post.  So, the video was taken after the cleanup of sticky wax moth destroyed comb.  Wax moth larvae were offered to the chickens which they voraciously consumed.  

As you can see in the video:

• new comb was built on all frames showing no reluctance to build on plastic starter strips
  
• previously I donated a deep frame of capped honey to this hive and now this frame of comb is intact less the honey contents

40-liter Swarm Trap

 

On May 9th, the front porch video captured scout bees at my new 40-liter swarm trap.  Ultimately this trap was not chosen by the swarm.  In the still photo, I reused a hanging location for the 40-liter trap where a 8-frame trap successfully attracted a swarm on May 10th.

Each 40-liter trap contains:

• 4x deep frames with either foundation or plastic starter strips
• 1x deep frame of dark comb
• 1x slow-release tube containing lemongrass oil

Two 40-liter traps were sourced from one sheet of 4 by 8 foot 1/2 inch birch plywood.   Each trap required the following pieces:

• 2x front (or back) pieces - 19 5/8 inch by 17 1/4 inch
• 2x side pieces - 7 7/8 inch by 17 1/4 inch with 5/8 inch by 1/4 inch rabbit for frame hanging
• 1x top piece - 19 5/8 inch by 8 7/8 inch
• 1x bottom piece - 18 5/8 inch by 7 7/8 inch

Additional materials:

• 1x circular Betterbee hive portal (optional)
  
• 1x 1 inch bolt and wing nut (optional)
• 2x fender washers (optional)
• Aluminum Roll Flashing cut with a Dremel Fiberglass Reinforced Cut-Off Wheelcutting disk
  
• Titebond II wood glue and clamps 

swarm trap and capture - May 2021

On March 7th, I set out two 8-frame swarm traps hanging from crepe myrtle limbs.  I also prepared two hive stands as 8-frame swarm traps.   Each trap contains:

• 7x deep frames with either foundation or plastic starter strips
• 1x deep frame of dark comb
• 1x slow-release tube containing lemongrass oil

Immediately the traps were visited by scout bees, though I waited 64 days before a swarm would select one.  Here I share my 2021 swarm experience - so far.

On May 3rd, I set out two 40 liter (2441 cubic inch) swarm traps which contain similar elements as above except that there are just 5x deep frames in the top half and considerable volume (space) without frames beneath this tall and narrow configuration.   I'll share more details and photos of the 40 liter trap in future blog posts. If you are keeping count, I now have set out six swarm traps.

On May 6, the Nextdoor website mentioned that a swarm had landed at gusto! on Ponce, a restaurant near Clermont Hotel.   Last year I used Nextdoor information to locate and capture two swarms.  Nextdoor continues to be my main source of social media knowledge of local swarms.

On May 9 mid-afternoon, active scouting began at one swarm trap and by late afternoon two other traps had active scouting.  

On May 10 noon, all six swarm traps have scouts with the most intense active scouting focused at one hanging swarm trap.  I went for a 30 minute dog walk and in that short time I missed the swarm arrival.  At 3:30 I captured the attached video of bees completing their move into the 8-frame hanging swarm trap.

On May 11 dawn, I lowered the hanging swarm trap, closed its bottom entrance and set the left-right leveled trap onto a 3-step A-frame ladder.   In following days, I moved this 'ladder + trap' configuration at dawn 3 meters (10 feet).  I repeated these moves until I reach the desired backyard hive stand location.  Moving the trap created bee confusion and including a nearby closed patio umbrella in the move seemed to reduce this confusion.  On May 19, I transferred deep trap frames into a deep 8-frame box with a screened bottom board.   Every frame contained bees building new comb with the majority of bees found on the frame of dark comb.

small hive beetle larvae 2020

I lost one hive - small hive beetle (SHB) larvae ate their way through the comb and fermentation "slimed" the frames making them unfit for honey extraction.   As shown, I moved all boxes with frames away from the backyard hive locations for sky burial.  SHB arrived in south Georgia in 1999, subsequently SHB numbers can not be reduced to zero - they have become part of the beehive population.

To understand how bad things happen to good people - here I summarized an Australian agricultural pamphlet describing how to manage SHB.   For this lost hive, I've placed a check mark next to my summer 2020 beekeeping practice and observation:

• Minimize hive manipulations ✅
• Keep a high bee to comb ratio (aka maintain colonies with strong flight activity)
• Maintain good hygiene around the apiary ✅
• Avoid using combs/equipment that are infested with any stage of the SHB life cycle ✅

In comparison, a surviving joined stack of two hives has strong flight activity.   This joined stack consists of an overwintered hive on the bottom capped with an open Cloake Board and topped with a medium sized spring 2020 swarm capture.

As shown, the screened bottom board has fermented debris, SHB larvae and a few adult SHB.  I ordered beneficial nematodes (Heterorhabditis Indica) to treat the soil for SHB larvae. As described on the Southeastern Insecectories website, "Each SHB larvae killed by H.indica can cause reproduction of up to 20,000 more nematodes."

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.

condensation on cloake board

52 °F and there's a puddle of something on the cloake board landing area.  I dip my finger into the liquid and confirm the taste of simple water - nothing sweet about it.  Stacking the medium sized swarm atop an overwintered hive creates enough combined warm moist respiration to create condensation. Condensation, common in winter has taken me by surprise in spring.

first check on swarm capture

 

 

Two swarms are left undisturbed and this is the first check of their comb building.

First photo - A small swarm (captured March 13th) built comb on 4 out of 5 deep frames, but just along 1/4 of the frame length near the hive entrance.

A medium sized swarm (captured March 23rd) built comb on 5 of 8 deep frames and mostly away from the hive entrance.

Not surprising, comb building is proportional to swarm size.

Last photo - I added a cloake board (with its metal tray) beneath the medium swarm, all of which sits atop an over-wintered hive (without its inner cover and telescoping cover). Later, the metal tray will be removed and the bees can communicate through the cloake board's built-in queen excluder.  The maker of cloake board did not have this non-queen rearing purpose in mind, but it works for me.

Another swarm collection

The Nextdoor website brought me to my second swarm catch of 2020.    This medium sized swarm required a 3-step A-frame ladder.   I placed a 8-frame deep box on the ladder's paint shelf and my spouse pulled a cord attached to the limb.  Light rain had soaked the bees, so they stayed put without using the spray bottle of sugar water.

Over an inch of rain fell after the swarm collection. Maybe I share this to feel good about myself, but I don't believe the swarm would have survived if I had not put them in the box. 

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.

free bees - swarm capture

The swarm trap (+ lure) was being visited by a large number of scouts, and by dusk I was convinced that the swarm trap was occupied. At dawn of the next day, the swarm trap (+ lure) was placed on top of the desired hive. After 24 hours, the bees are shaken or bumped into the hive. Some bees remain attached to the trap and are left to crawl into the hive at their own pace. The small quantity of drawn comb is not placed into the hive.