Swarm Trap - May 5th 2024

Swarm summary: It was an unusual swarm trap season.🤣 My neighbors helped me see a swarm select a sycamore tree cavity, and 43 days later this bee nest swarms and selected my swarm trap 7 houses away. Flight vigor at the bee nest has since increased - the bee nest is a gift that keeps giving!

 

I was hoping for something else! 

• 9th March - I installed 4 swarm traps in my neighborhood
• active scouting began at two 40-liter swarm traps hanging from crepe myrtle limbs. Each swarm trap contained:
• 5x deep frames with plastic starter strips
• UV-reactive blue swarm trap entrance
• synthetically produced Nasonov pheromone
• 23rd March in the early afternoon - my traps are passed over as the bees selected a cavity in the sycamore tree trunk using a cut-off limb entrance and active scouting of swarm traps subsided
  
• 29th April - sycamore bee nest entrance was obscured by a huge bee beard - see the 2nd photo.
  

In a roundabout way, the moment I've been waiting for!   

• active scouting restarted at the two 40-liter swarm traps
• 5th May at 5:30PM - bees selected my backyard 40-liter swarm trap and the sycamore bee nest entrance is no longer obscured by a huge bee beard - a flight journey of 290 feet (88 meters) - see the 1st photo.
  
• over the next 6 days after dark, I moved the occupied swarm trap in 5 steps towards my empty backyard hive stand.  The after-dark move was made easier by leveling the next location during daylight hours.
  
• 13th May - I transferred 5 deep swarm trap frames to 8-frame equipment and moved the swarm lure to the 8-frame landing board. No smoking or brushing of bees was required. - see the 5th photo.

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.

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.

scout bees at swarm trap 2023

From mid-February to early March, Atlanta's maximum temperatures were warmer than expected. On February 21st, the high temperature was 21°F above maximum normals (1991-2020).   

On March 7th, pollen counts soared to 3937 - outdoor surfaces were covered with yellow pollen (pine, oak, sweet gum, hackberry, and birch).    Walking the dog, I discovered bees (mining, carpenter, and European honey) visiting crabapple tree flowers on my street - thanks to Trees Atlanta.

I set 4 hanging swarm traps on 3 properties in my neighborhood, each with: 

• UV-reactive blue swarm trap entrance
• synthetically produced Nasonov pheromone

2 of these traps are on my property and conveniently located where I can watch the swarm trap entrance and the behavior of scout bees from a window. See the video and read page 62 of Honeybee Democracy describing scout bees.

So far, the traps did not attract a swarm - my swarm trap hopes rest with a return to more normal temperatures after this week of frigid spring weather.

swarm traps (bait hives) with UV-reactive blue entrance

 

Impact of UV-Induced Blue Florescence Entrances concludes:

• UV-reactive blue swarm trap entrances nearly doubled the number of scout bees observed over the control
• Swarms selected the trap with the UV-blue entrance over the control 100% of the time

 method and materials:

• conducted from May to August in 2020 and 2021 in western New York
• 1.25 inch (3.2 cm) circular entrance hole
  
• 1.59 cubic ft (45 liter) cavity volume
• 4 frames without comb + 1 frame with some comb
  
• attached to a tree at a height of 8-10 feet
• 3 locations facing an open field with bee forage
• 2 traps per location 200 feet apart with a 3D printed trap entrance using 1) UV-reactive blue filament or 2) white filament (control)
  
• swarm lure spray applied weekly
• weather permitting, 1 location included scout bee counting between 11:30am-4:00pm
  

 

	Scout Bee Activity Logged	Trap Selected
Year 1 - 2020
Location 1	Yes	UV-reactive blue
Location 2		UV-reactive blue
Location 3		UV-reactive blue
Year 2 - 2021 (traps swapped)
Location 1	Yes	UV-reactive blue
Location 2		none
Location 3		UV-reactive blue

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.

tulip poplar windfall and other spring flowers '21

 

I discovered my first 2021 tulip popular flower windfall.  Click to zoom and see ants attracted to tulip flower sweetness.

Stuck working from home, I have become impatient with all things, including waiting for the Atlanta swarm season to start.  On March 7th I hung 8-frame deep swarm traps from crepe myrtle trees and baited unoccupied hives too - welcome to all scout bees. My overwintered bees are heavy but not drawing new comb or scouting the swam traps as I hoped.  The Atlanta swarm season will start when it starts.

tulip popular flower windfall

Today I discovered the first 2018 windfall of the tulip popular flower kind.  Tulip poplar flowers could be a valuable nectar flow for the bees if the weather cooperates - no hard rainfall please.

In late February for one hive and mid-March for the other hive, I checkerboard the honey cap using foundation-less frames with no drawn comb. Both overwintered hives are flying with nearly equal vigor and have an amazing low number of small hive beetles during hive inspections, but are not drawing comb as I expected.

On March 29th I hung 8-frame deep swarm traps from crepe myrtle trees and now wait for the first scout bees - apparently I'm waiting impatiently.

2nd swarm trapping

This morning it's not clear whether I'm observing active scouting or a move-in at the hanging swarm trap.   After a few more hours, I looked again and now convinced there's a move-in - see the large lump of bees attached to the bottom of the box that was not previously present.  Tomorrow the forecast calls for rain - so, I'm glad they'll stay dry.  This is my 2nd successful swarm trapping this spring.

This is my largest swarm ever, I always say that.  In a few days, I'll transfer the frames and can really judge the size of this swarm.

This hanging 8-frame deep contains 1 frame of brood comb, 7 frames with foundation and a swarm lure.   A hole saw was used to create two entrances - one that you can see and another on the bottom side.

Hanging swarm trap advantages:

• no ladder climbing required with this rope hanging scheme
• large volume created by 8 deep frames
• movable frames can be transferred into other deep boxes without cutting comb 
• bottom entrance encourages complete move-in and discourages comb building beneath the box
• sustainable alternative to splitting

Hanging swarm trap disadvantages:

• requires foundation as the swarm trap is not left-right level

The best element of the hanging swarm trap scheme is the safety of no ladder climbing. My next steps include using window screen and duct tape to cover the bottom entrance and to gradually move the trap to its final location.  I'll move small distances every day or every other day to minimize bee entrance confusion.

Swarm Trap - March 25th '17

Active scouting quickly changed into a mid-afternoon move-in.   Bees appear to be pouring sideways into the swarm trap entrance. This hanging 8-frame deep contains 1 frame of brood comb, 7 frames with foundation and a swarm lure.   A hole saw was used to create two entrances - one that you can see and another on the bottom side.  I don't want to use foundation, but the non-level box is not suitable for foundation-less frames.   It's too good to be true, this swarm did not demonstrate any comb building behavior beneath the box.   After an hour, everyone was inside.   It rained last night. I'm glad they stayed dry and are presumably busy drawing comb.

swarm attached to outside of swarm trap

This story begins with several days of bees scouting my 4 swarm traps - each trap contains some brood comb and a swarm lure.  Next, I discovered a huge swarm attached to the outside of my tree hanging 8-frame swarm trap.  During back-to-back cool drizzly weather days, I wait for the swarm to move into the box.

After 2 days, I give up waiting and successfully lower the trap and bees to their new location.  After the bump transfer, I discovered 3 pieces of comb - previously hidden beneath the swarm.    Outdoor comb construction was almost beyond my imagination.

For a few days, I will keep a queen includer beneath the new hive and a 1gal pail feeder with Honey-B-Healthy above the inner cover.

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.

Swarm Trap

How does the Brushy Mountain swarm trap dimensions and swarm lure compare with the nest-site preferences in Honeybee Ecology? The book suggests:

• a volume between 15 and 80 liters
• entrance faces south
• entrance area less than 75 square cm
• entrance positioned near the floor
• located several meters above ground
• located between 100 and 400 meters from the parent nest
• comes equipped with beeswax combs

The Brushy Mountain swarm trap has a volume of 19 liters and a circular entrance area of 13 square cm. Depending on how one attaches the swarm trap to a tree (or whatever), the entrance is either located near the floor or between floor and ceiling. Does entrance at the bottom of the trap hedge my bets as to what direction the entrance faces? The back deck of the house is 5 foot tall, so in combination with a short 4 foot (manageable) ladder that puts the the trap a few meters above the ground. However, my small property makes it difficult to site the trap 100 to 400 meters from my hives--maybe I will attract swarms from other hives. The trap does not contain beeswax comb, but that's where the the smelly lure and other favorable conditions like smooth and dry interior may help--there are no guarantees to this scheme.