What did you do in the garden today?

[cavemanrich]

Finished the bee swarm trap yesterday

Can you elaborate slightly more on this. Never heard of trap.

 

[WthrLady]

sure. It's a small version of a great place for bees to "nest". They send scouts out when it's time to swarm looking for optimal locations for the swarm to start a new hive. If you put this out before they swarm, when the hive splits, then the swarm goes to your trap, you can close it up, and take home a new hive and put it in your ready hive.

Mine is a mini version of my top bar hive, so when I catch a swarm all I have to do is transport the trap, and lift the swarm out with their top bars and put those bars in my awaiting hives.

They can be as simple as two peat flower pots tied together with an entrance hole in it.

 

[WthrLady]

View attachment 1644108 *throws a snowball @penny*
Today I raked all the snow off the run. Shoveled my path. Picked up some cat food for my trap. Because I found tracks in my yard!

a polydactyl cat?

 

[WthrLady]

here it is missing the lid (drying on the side) and it's bars, also drying.

 

[MissChick@dee]

Funny you should say that. Had one last year. And yes he was a polydactyl had God knows how many toes. We trapped him. He had a bad leg and would sleep in one of my hawk hideouts. Extremely feral! Disfigured facial features you know.
I thought noooway he’s back. If so we’ll make sure he won’t come back.
To me the pads in the print look too narrow for a cat. But I’m no Daniel Boone lol.
We’ll see in the morning.
To be continued....

 

[WthrLady]

Too round for a raccoon. I'm guessing it's a child of Mr. Multitoes.

 

[MissChick@dee]

sure. It's a small version of a great place for bees to "nest". They send scouts out when it's time to swarm looking for optimal locations for the swarm to start a new hive. If you put this out before they swarm, when the hive splits, then the swarm goes to your trap, you can close it up, and take home a new hive and put it in your ready hive.

Mine is a mini version of my top bar hive, so when I catch a swarm all I have to do is transport the trap, and lift the swarm out with their top bars and put those bars in my awaiting hives.

They can be as simple as two peat flower pots tied together with an entrance hole in it.

So cool

 

[WthrLady]

It beats climbing a 12 foot ladder, perched on the back of a pickup truck with a chainsaw to go after a buzzing ball of 20,000 bees to capture them for a new hive. (That's what my neighbor did last summer when her hive split. Yes, she recorded it.)

 

[MissChick@dee]

It beats climbing a 12 foot ladder, perched on the back of a pickup truck with a chainsaw to go after a buzzing ball of 20,000 bees to capture them for a new hive. (That's what my neighbor did last summer when her hive split. Yes, she recorded it.)

Yes...yes it does.

 

[MissChick@dee]

a polydactyl cat?

Well...@WthrLady you were spot on. It looks like Poly’s offspring. Same color (grey tabby) he freaked out when I lifted the cover...beating himself silly in the trap.
Phew! I feel better knowing it’s a cat and not a raccoon.