# Best places for swarm trap



## Charlie B (May 20, 2011)

We've beat this issue to death in this forum. Just do a swarm trap search and all your questions will be answered.


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## minz (Jan 15, 2011)

Yeah I think almost everything is in history but I think the biggest issues with some of the more popular subject posts (like this one) is it is 20 pages of posts. I am a small fish in the Odfrank pond but pulled in a pair last year. One was across a trail from a slough; one was 2 miles from it in an area that I did not think had a chance (intersection of two busy streets). Put one where I found a ton of bees the summer before and one on either side of an airfield that was reporting a swarm each year. Nothing on the ones I thought was a win. Both my wins were in scotch pines, my empty traps; alder, willow, pine, Unknown (sent it home with a guy from work). All my heights were 6’. All in the city. BTW Odfrank is the master!


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## naturebee (Dec 25, 2004)

Hi David,,,

I would place swarm traps near to large objects 
such as tree trunks, ‘Y’s in tree branches, shed & 
trailer roofs are highly attractive, fence rows,
old abandon structures and other landmarks and 
objects that serve as points of interest for scouting 
bees. Think 'bee habitat' when placing out traps,
so places where there would be voids for ferals
such as large growth forests would be good.

Woodland traps should be placed along the edges 
of open areas, or near to a forage source, preferably 
up wind to increase the chances of discovery.
6 feet is high enough.

House hunting bees are former foragers, so
places where you see bees foraging, like near 
old bee equipment and forager areas, water 
sources work good for attracting scouts.

Best Wishes,
Joe Waggle
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/FeralBeeProject/
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/HistoricalHoneybeeArticles


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## j.kuder (Dec 5, 2010)

hey if you guys dont't feel like answering sombodys questions then don't bother to comment because you should know by now thats what happens in these forums rarely something new. and thank you naturebee for taking the time to answer david's question


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## Jeffzhear (Dec 2, 2006)

I wouldn't use honey, it will only get robbed. A few drops of lemongrass oil on the tip of a q-tip...drop it in the hole in the swarm trap and watch the honeybees investigate  I also use old comb, heated with a heat gun and stuck to the top of my home made swarm traps. Note: orient the comb correctly b4 sticking it to the top of the trap....happy hunting....Oh, 10 feet up...I have been told 10 feet up is optimum.


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## Sharpbees (Jun 26, 2012)

Placing them along creekbeds and other water sources works well. Bees use the creekbeds like highways since they provide a clear flight path and will readily find the traps when foraging for water.


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

I prepared my traps yesterday, no LGO yet. The bees were on them in front of my warehouse. They were on them in my driveway parked at my house this morning. I catch them on the 2nd story deck at my house exposed to the wind, and facing the opposite direction on my patio 2' above the ground sheltered from the wind. I catch them on a low block wall in a sheltered side yard, on a woodpile on a driveway between two houses. I catch them facing south, west, east and north. I caught one on a follower board in an open box. I catch them in four, five, eight, ten and twelve frame boxes. Number one last year just filled a dead hive, no LGO. I don't over think it, or much else for that matter (just ask Charlie about that). I catch swarms because I set out lot of traps and there are a lot of swarms in my area. My techniques:

Don't medicate your bees so that a lot will die in winter giving you lots of used black combs.
Extract out the honey and let your remaining hives dry them.
Put the combs in your traps with a few drops of LGO.
Set them out on walls, tables, decks, woodpiles, Model T Ford roofs, rock walls, up in trees, garden pedestals, hive stands, back of your pickup.
If there are swarms they will come.
I DO NOT USE ANY KIND OF PLASTIC COMB, FRAME OR FOUNDATION, or traps with screened bottoms.


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

One more technique. Do like Charlie, become a board member of your local bee club. That will give you access to the mailing list of all the members and probable location of some of their hives. Then correlate those neighborhoods with the homes of your friends, family, co-workers etc. Place your bait hives at their houses. This will place your bait hives in proximately of known hives.
Also place adds in Craigslist advertising for bait hive locations. "Site wanted for trapping honey bee swarms, near 31st Avenue, San Mateo preferred". Once a swarm is caught there, finagle the host into letting you turn their yard into a permanent site for your hives. Works every time.


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## Charlie B (May 20, 2011)

I just set bait hives on my hive stand, they'll find them soon enough.


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## wadehump (Sep 30, 2007)

j.kuder said:


> hey if you guys dont't feel like answering sombodys questions then don't bother to comment because you should know by now thats what happens in these forums rarely something new. and thank you naturebee for taking the time to answer david's question


my my we sure are teste with only 2 post 2 your name but i will answer. its just like fishing there is never the golden spot the bees dont read the books that we write i use old dark brood comb and lemon grass oil i place in old pill bottels with cotton in them and make small hole in the caps for slow release check once a week min.


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## wheeler88 (Mar 6, 2011)

Good book available “Swarm Traps and Bait Hives” only 53 pages lots of good info. You can download it as digital e-book and print it out from here www.LearningBeekeeping.com only $10.00….or you can order it....


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## alblancher (Mar 3, 2011)

Good Idea Wadehump

I have plastic frames and the lemon grass oil melts them so the Qtip taped to the frame is problematic. I'll give your idea a try!


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## Blackwater Bees (May 7, 2012)

I put one in each of my deer stands. It gets them in the edges of large openings, 16 ft or so up off the ground. I put a note on each stand that the box in the stand is full of bees, no one has stolen one of my stands in the offseason since I started doing it.


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## Stan The Bee Man (Jul 24, 2016)

agree 100%


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