# Lemongrass oil in swarm traps



## MichiganMike (Mar 25, 2014)

I have put traps out each May for the past two years and have caught swarms every time. I swab a couple drops on a top bar and a drop on a cotton ball that is dropped in. I also provide drawn comb and that may be the real reason the swarms accept the box. The only time I refresh is between swarms.


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## Tenbears (May 15, 2012)

The drawn come is a powerful tool. Bees go where bees were. I have a tree that has had bees in it for over 20 years. The same troop? NO! I have seen it dead out. only to find bees flying like gang buster two weeks later. 

lemongrass will help, and with nothing else there is a possibility you will capture a swarm. Simply place the LGO on a cotton ball then dab a bit at the entrance, and toss the cotton ball in the back of the hive. Refresh every few weeks if you like but it last a long time. 
Placing a drawn frame or two into the hive will quadruple your chances.


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## tanksbees (Jun 16, 2014)

I have never caught a swarm with new equipment.

Old boxes with an old brood frame always seem to catch the swarms.


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

>I have never caught a swarm with new equipment.

40 years ago, Joe Smith in Burlingame, set a new hive with wax foundation in front of his garage and came home to find it filled. I caught a swarm last year on four new frames of Ritecell in a recently emptied bait hive, and also caught a swarm in an open box with only an empty frame in it. So miracles do occasionally happen.


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## Jay Burgess (Aug 3, 2007)

That may work but you will do much better with old comb. Beg borrow some old comb, someone near you must have some, call or join your local bee club, try an ad on Craig's list, look for swarm removal ads call and ask them. Two or 3 frames could set up 3 traps, and your right to use LGO. Just my 2 cents.,


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## farmer0298 (Jan 22, 2016)

I also am starting with new stuff. I builtn4 swarm boxes from the plans on this site. I have swarms located that are in trees right now. So my question is how far from the trees do I need to put my swarm boxes? Or do yall recommend a different approach? Owners do not want trees cut so that's why im using the boxes. I plan to use LGO and all 5 of my frames have new foundation. Any and all suggestions are welcome. Thanks in advance!


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## Geno (Apr 23, 2015)

Bait hives located 30 to 100 yards upwind from the Bee trees works well for me. Another consideration is to have boxes that are 40 liters. A single 10 frame deep is a good size. Good Luck!


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## GaryG74 (Apr 9, 2014)

I used new swarm traps last year, put one old frame of comb then the rest starter strip frames (full sheets of foundation work too). I rubbed the inside of the traps with pieces of old comb to add scent, then used a cotton ball with LGO on it in a sandwich bag. Just made two traps last year but the one close to a bee tree was up about two weeks before it was occupied. The second one didn't get put up so 50% success on the two. Hard to catch anything sitting in a closed shed.


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## flyin-lowe (May 15, 2014)

Last year I set 5 traps and caught 1. In each one I put 4-5 drops on a Q Tip and rubbed it lightly on the entrance. Then I put the Q Tip in a zip lock bag and put the bag on top of the frames. I left a small section of the bag unzipped. The keeps it from drying out so quick. I would go back every 4-5 weeks and put one drop on the entrance. This stuff goes a long way and I have read that too much will do more harm then good.


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## Scott Gough (Dec 10, 2015)

I just started beekeeping last year. I did not have any drawn comb but I did get a little brace comb during my first few inspections of the two nucs that I purchased. I made three new swarm boxes similar to the ones found on horizontalhive.com. I baited them with a beeswax lemon grass oil mix. The recipe is as follows...

Melt 1/2 cup of beeswax. Add 10 to 15 drops of lemongrass oil to the melted beeswax and mix. Pour the melted wax into small cupcake molds and insert a string or loop to hang the lure. Let them cool and put the lure in the traps prior to setting the traps out. I also rubbed the trap inside with the extra lures a little. 

I caught 4 swarms with the three traps. So while I think drawn comb will help it is not required to catch swarms in new traps.


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## rskenny (Jun 8, 2014)

do you put a reducer in the entrance?


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## TalonRedding (Jul 19, 2013)

Nothing much to add here except that my methods are similar to flyin lowe's. I've trapped swarms for 3 straight years now. This will be my fourth. 2 years ago I set traps out and all but one had melted slum gum on the insides. That one was a plain wooden box without comb or anything that even smelled like a beehive. All I did was put a paper towel with a few drops of LGO and slit the bag for slow release. I did it for kicks; just to see what would happen. Wouldn't you know it, I checked on it 3 weeks later and it was full of bees! When bees need a home and there aren't many homes on the market, they will go to anyplace that is halfway suitable. I will also add that using a standard hive box with frames is the way to go. My first two years of luring swarms was accomplished putting together tall narrow boxes that were scrounged out of scrap piles on construction sites. These first boxes also did not have any frames, which in turn, made the whole process more time consuming in the long run by having to cut out the comb. Using standardized hive boxes with frames is FAR more sensible and is the only way I trap swarms anymore.


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## ljbee (Apr 27, 2015)

I'm dumping the contents of my bottom board tray into my swarm traps along with the LGO. This is my first year trying it too and I have limited resources.


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## FlowerPlanter (Aug 3, 2011)

I used the small snack size zip locks, dip 1/2 q tip in LGO cover it with a 1x1 paper towel. Zip the zip lock completely, place it on the top bars. 

33 to 50 percent success rate. I don't have time to replenish, it goes on once and that's it. At the end of the season I can still smell the LGO.


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## jwdeeming (Apr 22, 2014)

Last spring was my first attempt at trapping and only my 2nd year with hives so had zero drawn frames to play with. May have been dumb luck but I caught seven swarms with all new boxes and plastic foundation. This year I'll have at least one drawn frame in each trap thanks to a hive that didn't make it through the winter. Regarding LGO, I followed the cotton ball in a ziplock bag recommendation and only refreshed between swarms.


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## tunedin5ths (Jan 26, 2016)

jwdeeming said:


> ... I caught seven swarms with all new boxes and plastic foundation....


That's very encouraging!! How many traps did you set out?


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## jcummins (Feb 21, 2016)

Anyone using swarm commander? and how well does it work?

Also...I have 'pieces of comb' from a bee tree....would this be good in a swarm box?


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## dynemd (Aug 27, 2013)

jcummins said:


> Anyone using swarm commander? and how well does it work?


Look here: http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?307523-Swarm-commander-Does-It-Really-Work

Rub that comb on the walls of the swarm trap.


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## jwdeeming (Apr 22, 2014)

tunedin5ths said:


> That's very encouraging!! How many traps did you set out?


I built 8 traps and rotated them through four locations. Best locations were in apple trees, one netting three swarms and one got two. I followed these plans to build the traps:
http://www.horizontalhive.com/how-to-build/swarm-trap-free-plans.shtml
Have fun - it's a blast!


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## Lauri (Feb 1, 2012)

Fill one or two of those drawn comb frames with my sugar block recipe with lemon grass oil in the mix. Do it now so by the time summer comes they are so hard they can't be robbed out, but they sure attract the scouts.
Each side of the comb will take about 3 cups of the moistened mix. Just rub it into the cells with you hand in a circular motion. Use the recipe with the vinegar. Water for liquid won't work the
same. They are attracted to the vinegar too.


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## BEK71 (Jun 6, 2015)

If you use a deep box with frames, do you fill the box with frames or just need a few per trap? Myself I am using new frames since I do not have any frames with old comb.


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## Gypsi (Mar 27, 2011)

I don't know if I dare catch swarms - Fort Worth is fixing to limit the number of hives to 2. I have 3.


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## Scott Gough (Dec 10, 2015)

BEK71 said:


> If you use a deep box with frames, do you fill the box with frames or just need a few per trap? Myself I am using new frames since I do not have any frames with old comb.


If you do not fill it as least most of the way with frames the bees will build comb off the box top. Which is not a problem if you want to do a cut out. Jason Bruns has a good blog on how he puts his together at http://letmbee.com/?page_id=237 . He puts 8 frames in his because he has reinforced the corners with 2x2's. If I remember correctly he does not use foundation in the frames he puts in his boxes but I could be getting mixed up with someone else.


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## jcummins (Feb 21, 2016)

Gypsi said:


> I don't know if I dare catch swarms - Fort Worth is fixing to limit the number of hives to 2. I have 3.


WHY would they do that?


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