A BEE thread....for those interested in beekeeping.

[sgtmom52]

What a bummer you lost them. How often can you catch them? I've worked hard with my bees, I don't want I lose them. I'm planning on getting another hive set up, just in case. I've been researching splitting a lot trying to figure out how best to deal with it.

We have caught 3 of the 6 that we know of.

One went into the bait hive.


One went into a tree about 20' high ~ we got that one with a ladder.


And the 3rd one was easy ~ less than 6' high in a cedar tree.


The one that went in the bait hive we kept and the other two we gave to friends ~ one who is a new beekeeper and those are his first bees and one who is a long time beekeeper who lost bees over the winter.

We have 20 hives that we keep and right now 3 nucs that we are selling. We may do more nucs for sale especially if we catch any more swarms.

 

[Amiga]

Less than two weeks before bee pickup - going through a final check for equipment and tasks. Got the last couple of saplings near the apiary area taken down - need to drag the limbs and such out of there - but right now it's time for a break out of the heat, with some water and kombucha.

sgtmom52, I just have the one top bar hive right now, and a 3 pound package ordered.

I have been reading a bit about the bait hives. Would it make sense for me to set one of those up, or wait till next year?.

 

[SpeckledHen10]

My mom is VERY interested in beekeeping. Nice to know there's even a thread for her on BYC!! She gets the bees, I get the chickens!!!!

YAY!!

 

[sgtmom52]

sgtmom52, I just have the one top bar hive right now, and a 3 pound package ordered.

I have been reading a bit about the bait hives. Would it make sense for me to set one of those up, or wait till next year?.

I would consider it. This is swarm season in my area so it should be starting in your area too. Who knows ~ you might get lucky and get free bees!

I use a 5 frame nuc box with some drawn comb and swarm lure. You could also use some bees wax and lemongrass oil.

Swarm lure
1/4 cup olive oil, a wad of beeswax (1/2 of a sheet of foundation), and about 20 drops of lemongrass oil. I heated the mixture together in a glass measuring cup that I placed in a pan of boiling water. Once it was all melted together, I poured it into a small foil bread mold we had in the cabinet. It solidified into a smearable paste in about 5 minutes

 

[Happy Chooks]

Swarm season should be just about over in my area, yes? The blackberries are in full bloom right now. Do you put the lure on top of the frames? How far from your hives do you put it?

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I swiped the lemongrass oil around the inside of my bait box then put the frames in. I don't think I'll catch anything, since swarm season is probably over in my area. I had 5 extra frames, so I figured it couldn't hurt to try!

 

[sgtmom52]

Swarm season should be just about over in my area, yes? The blackberries are in full bloom right now. Do you put the lure on top of the frames? How far from your hives do you put it?

Ideally you are supposed to put bait hives about 100' from your hives ~ but since our bees usually swarm to the top of 60' trees around them, we have one only about 30' from the hives. We have gotten at least 4 swarms in the 3 years in it.

I put the lure close to the entrance, but as bees have a really great sense of smell, they will smell it where ever you put it inside the bait hive.

 

[vahomesteaders]

We just had a swarm last sunday. All our bees around here swarm between 11 and 12 on the dot. We have alot of small growth cedars which is where the usually end up so easy to get to. Most of the bees around here never swarm more than hundred feet from the hive. Most infact swarm about 50 feet or less. And you cant miss it when they do. Quite easy to hear. What has surprised me is I ordered new bees on april 2nd. Got them home and all set up. That hive had such a population explosion I was afraid they would swarm this first year which is rare. But they didnt. Generaly a new hive wont produce much spare honey if any the first year. But this hive is going nuts. They are filling out a super a week already! And they are a mean group. lol Which in my experience, the meaner the bee's the more honey they make.

 

[sgtmom52]

We just had a swarm last sunday. All our bees around here swarm between 11 and 12 on the dot. We have alot of small growth cedars which is where the usually end up so easy to get to. Most of the bees around here never swarm more than hundred feet from the hive. Most infact swarm about 50 feet or less. And you cant miss it when they do. Quite easy to hear. What has surprised me is I ordered new bees on april 2nd. Got them home and all set up. That hive had such a population explosion I was afraid they would swarm this first year which is rare. But they didnt. Generaly a new hive wont produce much spare honey if any the first year. But this hive is going nuts. They are filling out a super a week already! And they are a mean group. lol Which in my experience, the meaner the bee's the more honey they make.

I agree that the meaner bees are heavier producers. We have one really mean hive that is a big producer and made a couple of splits and got a swarm off that hive and they are also a bit grumpy, but good producers too. I will suit up and take a couple of stings for the great production!

 

[vahomesteaders]

I agree that the meaner bees are heavier producers. We have one really mean hive that is a big producer and made a couple of splits and got a swarm off that hive and they are also a bit grumpy, but good producers too. I will suit up and take a couple of stings for the great production!

Me too! I got nailed yesterday while adding a new super. Most of my bees I dont even need a suit. But these guys shoot straight out and go for the face! But man are they producing good. Last year was a record year with 223lbs of honey off one hive. Which is great for my mountain area. These guys next year may rival that. lol