# Lemon Grass and other insects



## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I seem to get paper wasps and finches in mine... you have to remove them to get the bees to move in...


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## PaulC (Nov 20, 2011)

What about length of time for the box to be in one location. A week, all season??

Also, finishing volume I of your book. Have really enjoyed it. Has been most helpful.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>What about length of time for the box to be in one location. A week, all season??

I leave them all year around and refresh the bait in the spring.

>Also, finishing volume I of your book. Have really enjoyed it. Has been most helpful. 

Thanks.


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## misslechunker (May 26, 2010)

"Also, finishing volume I of your book...."

That's not a "book," that's the bible! LOL!


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## Tomas (Jun 10, 2005)

Here I rarely have a problem with wasps moving into my trap hives baited with lemon grass. In the last ten years I have probably had wasps move into my trap hives only four or five times that I can remember. I usually hang up about 30 to 40 trap hives every year.

I usually keep a trap hive in one location for the whole swarm season here--you just never know when a swarm might want to finally move into it. If a particular tree location doesn´t pan out at all the first year, I won´t try it there again the next season. Here in Honduras you can be pretty sure of catching at least one swarm in a proven tree that has caught others. 

This year I tried a new tree for a trap hive in one of the areas where I hang them. I caught a swarm within two weeks. That got taken down and I hung up another box in the same spot. Within two weeks I had another swarm--and the swarms haven´t even begun flying in earnest yet. If my luck holds I could possibly catch another two or three more swarms in that same tree this year.

I´ve also had problems with birds moving into my trap hives. I solved that by stapling a piece of half-inch metal screening across all the entrances.

-------

Tom


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## PatBeek (Jan 13, 2012)

Is there any big difference between lemon oil and lemongrass oil?

I just placed lemon oil on a napkin in my hive, but not sure if I'm wasting my time.

Also, is pure honey good to place in a hive to attract?


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## Walliebee (Nov 17, 2006)

I would use lemongrass oil. Their are compounds there that are not in lemon oil.

Skip the honey in a bait hive. The bees that are searching for a new home are different than the bees that are foraging.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>Is there any big difference between lemon oil and lemongrass oil?

Yes. 

>I just placed lemon oil on a napkin in my hive, but not sure if I'm wasting my time.

It will work better than nothing, but not as well as LGO.

>Also, is pure honey good to place in a hive to attract? 

No.


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## PatBeek (Jan 13, 2012)

Thanks.

I really appreciate all the knowledge and experience.


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## PatBeek (Jan 13, 2012)

Alright -

I purchased some lemon GRASS oil today and promptly doused a napkin with it and placed it in the hive. I also made some beeswax shavings and placed them inside. I also placed some photos of bees in thigh-highs in various poses all around inside, but then I remembered all the scout bees are female. They would have been repulsed unless they came from a chemically-laden colony.

We'll see what happens.


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## PatBeek (Jan 13, 2012)

*Enhanced pheromone lures to attract honey-bee swarms*

American Bee Journal (1993)
Volume: 133, Issue: 1, Pages: 58-60

Abstract

We tested the efficacy of various honey bee pheromone combinations in attracting swarms to bait hives. In the first experiment, using paired trap hives, synthetic queen mandibular pheromone plus two components of the worker Nasonov pheromone (citral and geraniol) attracted significantly more swarms than citral/geraniol lures alone. In the second experiment, with a single bait hive at each site, addition of nerolic acid to the citral/geraniol mixture attracted the most swarms (51), followed by the addition of a queen pheromone (43 swarms) or hexanal (38 swarms) lure to the citral/geraniol lure. The lowest trap catch came from hives containing a single lure baited with only citral and geraniol (25 swarms). These results confirm previous studies indicating that the addition of nerolic acid to citral/geraniol lures improves trap catch, and suggest that queen pheromone may further improve the attraction of swarms to bait hives


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>I purchased some lemon GRASS oil today and promptly doused a napkin with it and placed it in the hive.

The word "doused" worries me. Any more than four drops is too much. At this point I would remove the napkin and figure it has enough smell and throw the napkin away... too much will drive them out.


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## robherc (Mar 17, 2012)

Michael Bush said:


> >I purchased some lemon GRASS oil today...<snip>
> The word "doused" worries me. Any more than four drops is too much. <snip>... too much will drive them out.


I found a recipe for a swarm lure that I've been using a good bit... Seems like everywhere I go between making it & showering twice, I get pestered by a few dozen bees...

10 drops LEMONGRASS essential oil
5 drops GERANIUM essential oil
1 drop LEMON essential oil

mix thoroughly, then pour into a small vial/thimble and stuff in enough cotton to absorb the oil mix.

I've seen bees follow one of the vials I use (I mix all together in a syringe, then inject into a hypodermic needle cap vial) better than a year after I made it! If the smell seems weak to you after several months, grab a bit of the cotton with some tweezers & pull a bit of it out...POOF strong-smelling lure again.


-Good Luck!


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## RobWok (May 18, 2011)

PatBeek said:


> Alright -
> 
> I purchased some lemon GRASS oil today and promptly doused a napkin with it and placed it in the hive. I also made some beeswax shavings and placed them inside. I also placed some photos of bees in thigh-highs in various poses all around inside, but then I remembered all the scout bees are female. They would have been repulsed unless they came from a chemically-laden colony.
> 
> We'll see what happens.


Funny.  Considering that they're almost all very young females, maybe a picture of Justin BEEber?


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## BoBn (Jul 7, 2008)

If you have it strong enough for you to smell, it is probably too much. Lemon grass is a pretty good insect repellent in higher doses.

Here is a repellent with "All natural ingredients including lemon grass, cedarwood and citronella oils".
http://www.liquidfence.com/liquid-net-insect-repellent.html


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## robherc (Mar 17, 2012)

True Bobn, but one of my VERY FRESH lures is in a box I placed bees from a cut-out in, and every time I look inside there's always a group of bees clustered together @ the back of the box, checkin' out the vial, so I guess it doesn't work to disuade bees w/it unless it's WAY strong. That said, a napkin soaked in the stuff is enough to make your eyes burn if it's left open in a large ROOM; so I'm QUITE certain it'd be rather unbearable for humans & bees alike if enclosed in a swarm box.

...just my $0.02 worth.


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