# tree stand for swarm trap



## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

sorry if this has been covered before, but has anyone seen a design for a tree stand similar to what deer hunters use made to support a swarm trap? seems like it would be just the ticket with easy on and off, adjustable height, ect.


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## D Semple (Jun 18, 2010)

I use these for trap outs, same design:





















Wedge Board in a tree fork my even be handier, depending on the location. Take a 16" long piece of 2 x 6, cut a beveled inward "V" in each end, cram in the fork of a tree long-ways and set your swarm trap on top. 


I like Ollie's idea best though of leaving swarm traps about 3' off the ground.


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

nice pix d, thanks!


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## gmcharlie (May 9, 2009)

Why not just stick them in the tree stands??


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## Hoot Owl Lane Bees (Feb 24, 2012)

I use the my older stands and hang them upside down. That gives me a larger area for the trap. Also if another hunter sees it they are less likely to try to use it come hunting season.


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## datsdajoke (Aug 17, 2012)

I put a trap up in my deer stand this spring while turkey hunting and got a swarm. I don't know if I would go through the effort to build something like a tree stand just to hold a swarm trap, but if you have some stands already hanging why not use them. Worked for me, and I have another 4 tree-stands in mind that are going to get traps this spring.


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## gmcharlie (May 9, 2009)

Added plus, iot would give you a nice stable platform to lower the hive to the ground!


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## Mr.Beeman (May 19, 2012)

With a simple modification, this french cleat system can be strapped to the tree very easily. I will be using this system come spring.








Got this off the net.


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## PAHunter62 (Jan 26, 2011)

I agree with Beeman - the French Cleat system works well. I made some traps and hung them this year. Attached is a picture of a trap with a French cleat that was successful. ... well, almost - I had to transfer into a hive as they were building comb on the outside of the box off the lid.









I'll try and get a picture of one of my hangers and post it sometime this week. I made them so they would go up easily with a ratchet strap.

PAHunter62


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

>I like Ollie's idea best though of leaving swarm traps about 3' off the ground.

I never place them higher than I can reach with my feet on solid ground. Caught thirty last season and fifty and more previous years. I admit that height might give an advantage, but I believe in KISS.
Keep It Simple Stupid.


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## Mr.Beeman (May 19, 2012)

Which branch of the service were you in Frank?


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## PAHunter62 (Jan 26, 2011)

I agree with Ollie also - I place mine around farm fields or gas lines where I have access with my pickup truck. I back up to the tree, hang my bracket, or put a couple common nails in the tree and place the traps from standing in the bed of my truck. Mine are in remote areas 4 hours from my primary residence, so I want them out of easy reach from the ground. Best advice is to be safe.


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

good tip 62. i only have three to set around my farm, and i can easily back my truck up to the trees. looking forward to that pic of your bracket when you get a chance, thanks.


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## Mr.Beeman (May 19, 2012)

I have to ask PA...... why hang swarm traps 4 hours away from home? That's a full day just driving to check them.


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## Cleo C. Hogan Jr (Feb 27, 2010)

odfrank said:


> but I believe in KISS.


Do you think ley lines might have something to do with your success.

cchoganjr


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## PAHunter62 (Jan 26, 2011)

Mr.Beeman said:


> I have to ask PA...... why hang swarm traps 4 hours away from home? That's a full day just driving to check them.


I set my remote traps on a farm my brother owns. My father checks on them about once per week. I have one old brood comb in them and 7 foundationless frames (mediums). I take extra care to level the traps side to side to ensure good comb building. This way I can leave them alone until I get a weekend I can retrieve them. I get a family visit in and some free bees. This year I captured swarms in 6 of 7 traps set on the farm. Last year I was 1 for 3. We will be establishing an Apiary at that location after the spring thaw.


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## Grant (Jun 12, 2004)

PAHunter62 said:


> I back up to the tree, hang my bracket, or put a couple common nails in the tree ...


Man, I'm looking at those great pictures feeling guilty because I drive a 6" spike into a tree to hang my swarm trap from. Most of my locations are along sheltered creeks and fence lines with scrubby, crappy trees. And I only hang them as high as I can reach from the ground. No more ladders on uneven ground. No fear of falling and having to direct the paramedics to some remote location. I don't deer hunt, but if I did, I'd have a blind on the ground as well.

I do love the ingenuity that ratchet straps enables. Good pics, too.

Grant
Jackson, MO Trapping Swarms https://www.createspace.com/4106626


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

Cleo C. Hogan Jr said:


> Do you think ley lines might have something to do with your success.cchoganjr


No, I do not gett leyed too much.


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## PAHunter62 (Jan 26, 2011)

OK, finally got home in time to take a picture of my hanging bracket.

Two things I considered when making these:

- I wanted to use cheap ratchet straps to hang the traps. This will make it easier to garner permission to hang traps on someone else's property. Did not want to use nails or screws.

- wanted to provide support under the cleat in the event the trap wanted to tilt/lift up a little.








.
The key thing to keep in mind is to have the vertical long enough where the block at the top his higher than the trap lid. The ratchet strap runs underneath this top block when hanging to the tree/post/whatever. I made a bunch with some scrap pieces of 2x6, 3/4 inch plywood for the cleat, and the top block I got from Lowe's dumpster - banding boards that their pallets of lumber are strapped down with.

Try and keep material costs close to zero.

The cleat on the trap, I place on the side of the trap - this makes it easy to level the trap when I hang them by placing a wedge at the top or bottom of the hanger as needed (I fill the trap with foundationless frames, so the side to side leveling is important).









Above is an example of a trap hung in my back yard - kind of a poor job actually, but you get the idea. Under the cleat, I added a scrap piece of 3/4 inch stock (same thickness of the cleat). You can see the trap slid up a wee bit in the cleat, but is not able to tilt more because I blocked the hanger out under the cleat.

One other advantage of this system is - if you have a hot location, you can lift a captured swarm off the hanger, and drop a new trap onto it and go. Easy beezy!

If you have any more questions, ask.

PAHunter62


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## D Semple (Jun 18, 2010)

Is there something that prevents the nuc from hopping off the cleat if bumped from below? Thanks for sharing, intriguing. 

Don


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## PAHunter62 (Jan 26, 2011)

Nope - it lifts right off. The weight of the trap keeps it in place. I guess a vandal could take a heavy stick, limb and push it up and off if they wanted to. You can't prevent the motives of pricks that want to trash your stuff. There is another post (which I could not find - if I do, I will post a link) where someone tested the strength of the cleats to see what it took for them to fail.

This is where I picked up the idea from - an earlier thread -

http://www.beesource.com/forums/sho...-cleat-hanging-bracket&highlight=french+cleat

You can see a couple other pics I posted there - Post #34

http://www.beesource.com/forums/sho...nch-cleat-hanging-bracket&p=917054#post917054

I caught two swarms this year along the gas line shown in picture #2 of the post above. One in the trap pictured.


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## PAHunter62 (Jan 26, 2011)

This is where I saw the stress test ...

http://s1055.photobucket.com/user/s...3-15-22-14-21_zps5d576cf9.mp4.html?sort=3&o=3


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

very nice 62, thanks!


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## FlowerPlanter (Aug 3, 2011)

Keeping it simple is the most important thing, bees don't need it complicated neither do I.

I use I screws to keep the lid attached (plus they are easier to unscrew), note the string goes under the box that way the I screws aren't supporting the weight. 

I throw the roll of string while holding one end up and over a branch, hoist the box up, tie it off on the tree and that's it. No ladder no climbing and the bee box is up in a tree, which is prefer by the bees.

I buy the 220 lb string/rope at xmart in the fishing department, and I screws at lowes in the fastener section.

This box in the picture held up to a twister that damaged the roof of the house that is 20 ft from this tree. This happened two week before this picture was taken.


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## Mr.Beeman (May 19, 2012)

Seems like the bees like the outside of the swarm trap better. lol


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## FlowerPlanter (Aug 3, 2011)

This swarm did like the outside better 4 or 5 rows of comb.


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## shannonswyatt (May 7, 2012)

The french cleat that I used on my TBH traps this past season worked great. At the end of the season none of them were loose at all. Highly recommended for a long top bar hive were the weight will be out from the mount. I did use pressure treated wood for that and they were not painted. 

For my lang traps I just used a single cleat. Just took a 1x3, ripped it on a 45 degree angle and attached it to a 2x4 that was a little longer then the height of the box. They worked great as well. I just used some scrap wood for that.

I don't think I would use a single cleat on a heavy trap like a top bar. You could use two cleats, but on the end of a top bar hive there isn't a lot of surface area to mount two cleats.


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## Blackwater Bees (May 7, 2012)

I put a swarm trap in every one of my tree stands. I normally lost 1 or 2 stands a year to theives, but haven't lost one since I started putting the traps in them.


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