# swarm trap placement



## Jeffzhear (Dec 2, 2006)

I place my swarm traps around the outskirts of all my yards. At a minimum they are 10' up in the trees.

I believe I've read where they are most effective a few hundred yards from the hives themselves. I put them where they are convenient which is usually much closer (within 150 feet of my hives) and try to paint them so they blend in and don't stick out like a sore thumb.


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

I caught almost 40 last year and never place them higher than I can reach for ground level. Too bad that most died this winter.


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## Hambone (Mar 17, 2008)

I learned from Odfrank. I put them from ground level to 6' high. If you see an area that you want to put a trap and you see bees working, put the trap. Scouts will find it. 10' works. I just like being able to grab and go. No latters or extra equipment needed.


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## AmericasBeekeeper (Jan 24, 2010)

Bees have their own ideas of what is productive. We cannot tame them but we can learn from them.


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## peacekeeperapiaries (Jun 23, 2009)

Ground level to 6 or 8 feet. Sometimes I even throw an extra empty nuc with a "bait" on a pallet in the bee yard, ya never know.


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## Budster (Mar 24, 2006)

You might already know this, I'm not sure. Place some old comb in there or a cottonball with a few drops of lemmongrass oil. If your in a pinch, I heard Lemmon Pledge would work but I never tried it. Seems the smell helps too. Good luck catching the swarms!


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## CovertBeekInColleyville (Jun 12, 2009)

odfrank said:


> I caught almost 40 last year and never place them higher than I can reach for ground level. Too bad that most died this winter.


How about the one you had a picture of that grew into a stack about 8' tall?
Was you able to graft any queens from it?


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## waynesgarden (Jan 3, 2009)

Anyone just place traps at random places where there is no obvious reason to believe there are bees? For instance, I could put one up behind my office where I haven't seen honey bees. I could see it every day though.

By way of explaination, I keep a fishing rod in my car and stop at any hole with water in it in the off-chance there are fish in it.

Wayne


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## peacekeeperapiaries (Jun 23, 2009)

waynesgarden said:


> Anyone just place traps at random places where there is no obvious reason to believe there are bees? Wayne


All the time, any friend with a big tree or place to put a trap gets a bottle of honey. In fact my dad caught 8 swarms in 6 weeks in his residential neighborhood last year, same tree. Feral bees are everywhere and always looking for a new home. The more traps the better the chances


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## Budster (Mar 24, 2006)

waynesgarden said:


> Anyone just place traps at random places where there is no obvious reason to believe there are bees? For instance, I could put one up behind my office where I haven't seen honey bees. I could see it every day though.
> 
> By way of explaination, I keep a fishing rod in my car and stop at any hole with water in it in the off-chance there are fish in it.
> 
> Wayne


Its worth a try. Bees will find it and at least visit it heavily during swarm season. I always keep an empty here in a high place, even if you don't catch a swarm, you can keep an eye on it to see if its getting visits.

"Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and than"!


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## KQ6AR (May 13, 2008)

Yesterday, we went to a ladies house. A swarm moved into her wall about 3' off the ground, under her front steps.

There had to be a lot better choices for the bees. Like the 2 boxes set up on my property, darn


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## buffaloeletric (Mar 11, 2010)

im mostly new to all this, but u can place a trap and xpect a swarm? whats the bait? what works well as bait? i dont live on an apiary so im guessin my chances r low


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## jdittemore (May 31, 2009)

to keep things cheep I use empty copy paper boxes. I get them for nothing and I can get as many as I want.


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## outofabluesky (Feb 20, 2010)

Everything I know on Swarm Traps, I put on video:

http://blip.tv/file/3103682

and here:

http://blip.tv/file/3118164

But the 10' high rule, I think was applicable prior to the advent of swarm lures. The phermone lures now compensate for height.


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## Maine_Beekeeper (Mar 19, 2006)

From Tom Seeley: THE foremost expert on swarms and swarm behavior (since the beginning of man - literally)
download the pamphlet

http://ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/2653


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## outofabluesky (Feb 20, 2010)

It may be a great resource, but the pamphlet downloads as digital garbage. I've tried months ago, and again 5 minutes ago. Anybody getting it to work?


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## no1cowboy (May 18, 2007)

I just downloaded it and looked at it, works fine for me.


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

CovertBeekInColleyville said:


> How about the one you had a picture of that grew into a stack about 8' tall?
> Was you able to graft any queens from it?


I had to move it shortly thereafter and it promptly died.


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## mike haney (Feb 9, 2007)

buffaloeletric said:


> im mostly new to all this, but u can place a trap and xpect a swarm? whats the bait? what works well as bait? i dont live on an apiary so im guessin my chances r low


lemon grass oil is commonly used, as is lemon scented pledge polish or purchased lures. your chances of course are a direct ratio to the size of the bee population within a 2-3 mile diameter. more hives, closer to the trap, the better. good luck,mike


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## kathygibson (Nov 3, 2009)

outofabluesky said:


> It may be a great resource, but the pamphlet downloads as digital garbage. I've tried months ago, and again 5 minutes ago. Anybody getting it to work?


I just downloaded it...worked great. I am using a MAC laptop.


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## outofabluesky (Feb 20, 2010)

Well, I've got Linux. So this is some non-standard pdf format. Oh well. I'll look at it in a windows box and convert it over.


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## Budster (Mar 24, 2006)

outofabluesky said:


> Well, I've got Linux. So this is some non-standard pdf format. Oh well. I'll look at it in a windows box and convert it over.


I'm a beek on Linux too... Centos 5.3. (Red Hat relabel) I'm just guessing your on Ubuntu? Just a hunch.

Anyways, we are 2 peas out of the same pod!


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## buffaloeletric (Mar 11, 2010)

alrite, i put 2 traps on opposite ends of the yard. threw lemongrass oil on them, an well see what dont happen.


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## outofabluesky (Feb 20, 2010)

Budster said:


> I'm just guessing your on Ubuntu? Just a hunch.
> 
> Anyways, we are 2 peas out of the same pod!


Yep, Ubuntu 9.10. I make all my beekeeping videos for youtube (i'm outofabluesky there) using open source softwhere: Cinelerra to process editing, Audacity for audio work. 

But the swarm paper, were you able to read it?

From the papers and studies I've researched, I've found that the pheromone lure was a groundbreaking innovation. Many beliefs before the lure are still told as gospel even tho the lure compensates for it. Like the 10' high belief. Further, the advent of AHB has brought bees to nest in smaller spaces on down to 10 liters. So other beliefs are kind of diminished. But they are still relevant.

So back on track with the thread, here's what I've surmised on location placement:


First and formost, place where swarms have landed before.
Place in lone trees that would be used for navigation landmarks.
Place on treelines or fencelines and preferably in shade.
Place them where you won't kill yourself retrieving.


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## Maine_Beekeeper (Mar 19, 2006)

One more thing: 

Place them where you will see them every day.


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