Honey Bees

Somehow I got lucky with bees. The large tree plantation (loblolly pine) for whatever reason saw that they needed about 500 boxes, crates what ever you call them of honey bees. Bring them on a big rig. About 20 people out to set up. Last year drove down the logging rd ( for some reason public road) that the bees are on. Never again.
 
Chuck cut out a hive Sunday afternoon. We took them straight to the farm and gave them a new home.
Still have another hive in there to remove before they tear the old house down.
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^^^^That is AWESOME ! ^^^^^
Great catch and way to save the bees, congrats.
 
Anything in particular that attracts swarms to that tree?

Any observations ?

bill
 
Anything in particular that attracts swarms to that tree?

Any observations ?

bill
Really no idea. There was a guy that raised bees commercially about 1 mile from here a few years back.
My guess is he "seeded" the woods with swarms and as they swarm we catch a few.

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Chuck cut out the second hive this past Sunday.
This group had no queen, brood, or eggs, but there were a ton of bees in it with only a small amount of honey left.
He gave them a frame of honey, some emerging brood and new eggs from one of our large hives to see if they'll make a queen.
I checked on them Tuesday and they didn't seem to be doing much, but by Wednesday they were bringing in pollen.
I'll know more when he opens them up next.
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Excellent! Chuck picked up a swarm in town from a guys yard this week and I had a few checking out one of our traps too.

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We only had one hive out of 5 make it through winter. I have a suspicion that adjoining hive may have combined sometime since last fall the number of bees in that one hive for this time of year was insane. 6 medium boxes stacked on top of each other and every single one of them was packed with bees. Split that hive into 3 hives today with a couple of new queens and at least a couple frames of brood into each of the new ones. Since they are all starting out on drawn comb from last year if the queens take I figure they should do well. Dandelions and Redbud trees are in full bloom now so they should be able to ramp up a bit before the Dutch clover starts to bloom.

What size boxes are you guys using for your swarm trap boxes? I have read that 10 frame deeps make the best swarm boxes. However I use all mediums on hives I have now. Have a couple of deeps I could use as swarm traps but would just as soon have them swarm into boxes with medium frames as opposed to cutting the honey comb out of deeps to reinstall it into medium boxes.
 
You guy catching swarms in swarm traps have got me a little jealous. I'm getting into bees for the first time this year and put out 2 swarm traps baited with lemongrass oil. Not one bee has paid any attention to either one of them. Come on guys, spill the beans, what's the secret?
 
We only had one hive out of 5 make it through winter. I have a suspicion that adjoining hive may have combined sometime since last fall the number of bees in that one hive for this time of year was insane. 6 medium boxes stacked on top of each other and every single one of them was packed with bees. Split that hive into 3 hives today with a couple of new queens and at least a couple frames of brood into each of the new ones. Since they are all starting out on drawn comb from last year if the queens take I figure they should do well. Dandelions and Redbud trees are in full bloom now so they should be able to ramp up a bit before the Dutch clover starts to bloom.

What size boxes are you guys using for your swarm trap boxes? I have read that 10 frame deeps make the best swarm boxes. However I use all mediums on hives I have now. Have a couple of deeps I could use as swarm traps but would just as soon have them swarm into boxes with medium frames as opposed to cutting the honey comb out of deeps to reinstall it into medium boxes.

FWIW, everything I have read says 40 L which is close to 10 frame deep

Check out Swarm Essentials by Stephen Repasky

bill
 
You guy catching swarms in swarm traps have got me a little jealous. I'm getting into bees for the first time this year and put out 2 swarm traps baited with lemongrass oil. Not one bee has paid any attention to either one of them. Come on guys, spill the beans, what's the secret?

Patience and persistence . My 2nd year to put out traps but my first year with any success

Use old comb for bait ( plus lemongrass oil)

I caught mine on huge oak trees in shade along pipeline ROW

Also on huge trees on pasture fencelines

Bees reportedly use large trees as landmarks and use creeks,highways,fencelines as travel corridors

bill
 
Here is one of my swarm traps. its right around 40 liters with 5 foundationless deep frames. I painted melted beeswax on the frames with a paintbrush and put a q-tip with lemongrass oil in a zipper bag placed on top of the frames, with 2 drops at the entrance. Wish I could have had frames with old brood comb but I've never had bees so that was not an option. Think this setup will work?
 

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Also could it be possible there are just no bees in my area?
 
Also could it be possible there are just no bees in my area?

Where there are trees......there are bees.....

bill
 
Where there are trees......there are bees.....

bill

That's good to know. It may just not be warm enough yet around here in southwestern Virginia and southern West Virginia where my places are at.
 
We only had one hive out of 5 make it through winter. I have a suspicion that adjoining hive may have combined sometime since last fall the number of bees in that one hive for this time of year was insane. 6 medium boxes stacked on top of each other and every single one of them was packed with bees. Split that hive into 3 hives today with a couple of new queens and at least a couple frames of brood into each of the new ones. Since they are all starting out on drawn comb from last year if the queens take I figure they should do well. Dandelions and Redbud trees are in full bloom now so they should be able to ramp up a bit before the Dutch clover starts to bloom.

What size boxes are you guys using for your swarm trap boxes? I have read that 10 frame deeps make the best swarm boxes. However I use all mediums on hives I have now. Have a couple of deeps I could use as swarm traps but would just as soon have them swarm into boxes with medium frames as opposed to cutting the honey comb out of deeps to reinstall it into medium boxes.
Mine are basically nuc boxes, 5 frames, made an extra 6 inches deep.

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First swarm catch of the year. My normal setup in, of all places, a huge maple tree in my yard.
I did notice scouts checking out one I have in a large oak in the hills Friday.
Wouldn't be surprised if I have a swarm in it next trip.


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Here is one of my swarm traps. its right around 40 liters with 5 foundationless deep frames. I painted melted beeswax on the frames with a paintbrush and put a q-tip with lemongrass oil in a zipper bag placed on top of the frames, with 2 drops at the entrance. Wish I could have had frames with old brood comb but I've never had bees so that was not an option. Think this setup will work?
I've got 6 swarm traps out in different locations. 4 of them never see any activity and the other 2 always seem to catch a swarm. There might not be an abundance of hives in that area you are trying. Try putting it in a different location. My 2 hives that always catch are in neighborhoods.
 
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