# Bees Checking Out Swarm Trap



## Slee (Jun 22, 2009)

Is there a feral hive near by, or is it just in a random spot? I always like seeing the bees find my traps, you just never know. All you can do is to set yourself up for success and hope for the best.


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## Rick 1456 (Jun 22, 2010)

They may check the hive out for several days before they move in. Last year, I watched them for three days before they moved in. I've read other folks have gone longer. It could be more than one hive checking it out. No guarantees. Fun though
Rick


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## yblocker (May 15, 2009)

This is the set up.


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## yblocker (May 15, 2009)

So it took about a week or 10 days for the swarm to finally move in after a few days of inspection then no activity. Then yesterday and the day before the bees were back and it was easy to see pollen going in and the hive smelled very sweet even from the ground, so I collected it last night I took it to a friends backyard who is located far enough away. My house is only a mile from the tree, so I thought that might be too close.


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## Rick 1456 (Jun 22, 2010)

Awesome!!
I had a box checked out and now no activity. I thought maybe I had left some honey in one of the frames. This makes me re think they will be back. My experience has been when moving a hive, to put a branch or some obstacle for them to "bump" into and cause them to re orient their location. Even from one side of a yard to the other.(No other hives for them to drift into at the old location) Some bees will go back but few stay. They go to their new hive location. I remove any thing that resembles or may have the old hive "smell". That includes the cinder blocks the hive was on. Works for me
Rick


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## Rick 1456 (Jun 22, 2010)

They moved in this morning. My friend sent me a text,,,,lots of bees. I had last checked the box on Wed. with no activity. Saw Drones in the mix which is a good sign IMO. Waiting for pollen
Rick


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## yblocker (May 15, 2009)

Congratulations. How big is the box?
I am 2 for 4 so far. One 10 frame deep and one 5 frame nuc. The 5 frame nuc was within 1/4 mile of my house, but I had to move it to my house the same day I noticed it had been populated.. I did the branch thing and they seem to be ok without having moved them miles away first. I did go back to the tree the box was in and there were a few bees there= like 5 or 10....


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## Rick 1456 (Jun 22, 2010)

This box is a standard 10 frame deep. Alternated drawn and foundationless frames.  I have another box there for after swarms that is a two five frame deeps stacked. Bees were either checking it out, or leftovers from this one moving in. Hoping for an after swarm. In that case, they decided on the std deep. Speculation. 
Yeah, I've had no trouble getting bees to re orient to new locations. You may loose a few but minimal. Even if you close a hive up after dark, you may loose some. Not all bees make it back to the hive before dark.
Woo hoo 
Rick


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## jadebees (May 9, 2013)

You will see up to 100's early arrivals, and they may move in. This is totally common for a trap box to attract a lot of early ones. Some times they accept , sometimes not. The queens favorite place will be where they move to. Be patient, and don't move a hive for a few weeks at least. New swarms abscond readily! They may be removing wax , prop., or sweets from it, too.


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## Rick 1456 (Jun 22, 2010)

I agree 100 %. Me thinks they were moving sweets the first time. This, with the drones, appears different but could be different group. I have no need to move it any time soon. I set mine up with a full combo of drawn and foundation less so I have that kinda time. Don't care to tie comb into frames unless I have to.
Rick


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## challenger (May 27, 2009)

jadebees said:


> You will see up to 100's early arrivals, and they may move in. This is totally common for a trap box to attract a lot of early ones. Some times they accept , sometimes not. The queens favorite place will be where they move to. Be patient, and don't move a hive for a few weeks at least. New swarms abscond readily! They may be removing wax , prop., or sweets from it, too.


Maybe I am greedy but I take them as soon as I can. I put them in a new deep along with a frame of brood. I was told the frame of brood will keep the swarm there. I've looked at some very nice swarms in my bait hives and have come back to see them gone.
Another thing I do if the season is right and the swarm is large enough is let the queen lay some brood and then remove a frame or so with some bees and put them off to make another queen.
Gotta make the most out of these wax building machines. Especially since most have likely come from my own stock.


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## BigDawg (Apr 21, 2013)

So I've got a trap (5 frame nuc) attached to the side of our cabin about 4' below a knot hole in the soffit of our cabin where a feral hive had been living for two years. I saw them late last fall, but haven't seen them since.

Yesterday, about 20-30 bees were checking out the old entrance. I ran and got my swarm trap and mounted it to the wall. Within a few hours, there were about 50-60 bees in the air around the trap, and quite a few going in an out of the 1" entrance. I also put a trap-out cone over the old hive entrance.

They stayed last night in the nuc, and this morning was cooler and rainy, but now that the sun is out there's more activity--still going in and out of the hive steadily and about 30-40 bees in the air flying around. Still, I haven't seen a "big" swarm yet--have I caught a very small swarm, or, are they still just trying to decide if they like it or not before they invite everyone over? There is steady traffic in and out of the nuc--I'd say a bee entering or exiting every 2-3 seconds, but I've yet to see hundreds, much less thousands, of bees....

BD


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