Swarm Trap Success
I am loving the beekeeping. 2 swarms caught and hived in 2 weeks. It feels like creating something from nothing. Quite magical.
I set up three swarm traps with pheromone lures in the middle of May and a month later, one of them has now attracted a swarm.
The photo and video below look like a big swarm, but in the end they could all fit into a 2 litre ice cream tub. How many bees is that? 5,000?. Still “A swarm in June is worth a silver spoon” – does that mean I’ll get some honey or just that the colony will get to a size that survives the winter?
Below is one of the better videos as it was shot by a professional TV Director who just happened to be coming for dinner as I was hiving the swarm. Thanks Hannah. A few seconds into the video you can still see I am a bit jumpy around the bees!
Read More
- Post: Installing Swarm Trap & Pheromone
- How-To Catch A Swarm
- How-To Hive A Swarm
- Beekeeping records: My Apiary
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Well done, Roger. My swarm traps achieved nil success, maybe because I used lemon grass oil only together with a super frame containing some propolis and a little honey. Other swarm collections, however, successful but also quite small swarms so doubtful whether they will survive the winter. Might have to unite with other hives in the autumn.
Freebees … lovely. I checked an out apiary late yesterday evening after hiving a small swarm (in reality, probably a cast … http://theapiarist.org/churchyard-swarm/). There’s a bait hive tucked in the corner of the apiary, now almost overgrown with nettles. I’ve never noticed any scout bees checking it. Out of habit I gave it a gentle tap which was met with a healthy Bzzzz. A quick peek under the lid confirmed that a reasonable sized swarm had set up home there and were just starting to draw comb, so hadn’t been there for long. I was also fortunate enough to see a big sedate unmarked queen saunter across the gap between frames, so with luck there’ll be brood there in a few days.
I’m aware of a few swarms being collected this season with large numbers of Varroa so am going to treat mine with OA vapour before they have sealed brood … better safe than sorry.
Hope the season continues to treat you and the bees well.