# House trap out update



## tomkat (Apr 27, 2014)

After you get some forgaers are you going to try and get the queen?


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## GOHoney (Jun 19, 2013)

Yes, I do hope to get her tomkat.


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## tomkat (Apr 27, 2014)

Ok are you baiting the trap out?


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## GOHoney (Jun 19, 2013)

I will be putting in a frame of eggs and larva.


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## tomkat (Apr 27, 2014)

Good idea, keep us posted.


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## GOHoney (Jun 19, 2013)

I will tomkat. I have a tree I will be starting on next week. Perfect setup. Their opening is about 3 foot off the ground.


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## WBVC (Apr 25, 2013)

GOHoney said:


> I have had the entrance on the house for several days. I will be placing the exit tunnel on tomorrow and adding the hive box this weekend.
> View attachment 11156
> View attachment 11157
> View attachment 11158


Why does the first pic have screen on the bottom?

How small is the narrow opening of the comb?

Do you then put the rim with the male part of the trap on a regular deep? Does that work as well as the Hogan style with the male part entering into, rather than above, the main box?

I ask as I have a bee tree on the property and am interested in placing a trap...not to eliminate them but to get bees for nucs from them

Both openings are right at ground level.


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## GOHoney (Jun 19, 2013)

WBVC,

I designed the trap to go between the bottom and the hive box. The hole in the trap screen is big enough for Drones and the queen to get out. This design is modeled after Hogan's trap, I just changed it so I would not have to cut a hole in a hive box. I am attaching a pic of the trap with the bottom board and hive box. 














WBVC said:


> Why does the first pic have screen on the bottom?
> 
> How small is the narrow opening of the comb?
> 
> ...


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## WBVC (Apr 25, 2013)

Thanks for the photos. At the front is the bottom board and entrance below the trap rim? 
By having a large open space beneath the frames do the bees burr this space or leave it open?


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## GOHoney (Jun 19, 2013)

I'm sure they will build comb down there WBVC. I will deal with that.


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## Scpossum (May 4, 2014)

Have a question....Are you saying the queen will come out due to the frame of eggs and larvae or is there something else you put in the deep? thinking about trying to trap out a colony in a camper floor.


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

why is the tunnel so long? The few trap outs I've done, I've learned that you want that tunnel as short as possible if you want to get the queen, that far away from the original next, they are liable to build queen cells on the eggs you donate. Not necessarily a bad thing unless you are wanting the " feral " genetics. Someone posted last yr about installing a junk caged queen in the trap, and was almost 100% successful on getting the queen out of the parent hive. Good luck and keep us posted.


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## tomkat (Apr 27, 2014)

Scpossum said:


> Have a question....Are you saying the queen will come out due to the frame of eggs and larvae or is there something else you put in the deep? thinking about trying to trap out a colony in a camper floor.


 I ADD lemon grass oil on a q tip to my traps


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## GOHoney (Jun 19, 2013)

SCpossum, yes I hope to draw the queen out with the brood frame. Harley, the tube is that long to get past the house overhang. I set the hive box on Sunday morning. I will be adding a frame of uncapped brood tomorrow after work.


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

gotcha, let us know how it works.


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## GOHoney (Jun 19, 2013)

They look really good today. Just like they live in the hive. I was going to add brood today, but we have a sever storm forecast for tonight and tomorrow. I will try and add tomorrow afternoon.


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## GOHoney (Jun 19, 2013)

May have bad news on trap-out. The property owner said late yesterday there was a swarm in the timber next to his property about 90 yards away. This afternoon when I looked there was a lot fewer bees coming and going.


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## GOHoney (Jun 19, 2013)

I Checked all of my hives today trying to find a frame with uncapped brood for the trap. All I found was capped brood and eggs. I went ahead and put in place the trap screen on the house. I will be setting the hive box on the tree in the morning. I will check over the next few days for uncapped. Will capped work? Side note, I have frames on the outside of both deep boxes on two hive that are fully capped honey. Very heavy.


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

If you have eggs you have uncapped brood. Technically, eggs hatch into larva and larva are capped, incubated, and on day 21 worker bees emerge. But terminology gets thrown around. 

What you are looking for is eggs, or larva, to get the smell of new brood. Capped brood will work, (just not as good). Nurse bees will come out to work this capped brood, but, eggs and larva require more attention, and consequently more nurse bees come out. That is what you want. 

What you are hoping for is to fool the queen, into thinking there is another queen in this box that layed those eggs. She comes out to investigate and/or fight. She will stay for a while, lay some eggs to establish her dominance over this chamber. Then, she may stay in the trap for a while, or, return to the tree. The nurse bees and houskeepers come out to take care of the brood so it will incubate and emerge. When you insert the brood, cleaners, and fanners come out to clean the trap, and to keep the chamber at the right temperature.

Sealed brood is far better than no brood at all. I would not put frames of honey in the trap. You don't want them to use the trap as a place to store surplus honey.

cchoganjr


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## GOHoney (Jun 19, 2013)

Cleo C. Hogan Jr said:


> If you have eggs you have uncapped brood. Technically, eggs hatch into larva and larva are capped, incubated, and on day 21 worker bees emerge. But terminology gets thrown around.
> 
> What you are looking for is eggs, or larva, to get the smell of new brood. Capped brood will work, (just not as good). Nurse bees will come out to work this capped brood, but, eggs and larva require more attention, and consequently more nurse bees come out. That is what you want.
> 
> ...


I don't have any frames with no honey. I will pull a frame tomorrow and tray and make sure I have some uncapped brood.


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

GoHoney... Perhaps I wasn't clear. When I said don't use frames of honey, I did not mean for you to find a brood frame with no honey on it. Brood frames will normally have honey, above and down the sides, of the brood area. When I said don't put frames of honey, I meant, no frames of solid honey.

cchoganjr


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## GOHoney (Jun 19, 2013)

Cleo, you are correct. I dug down into the bottom brood boxes. I found one frame with capped and uncapped brood with no honey. When I got to the house trap-out the bees were flying all over the front of the house trying to find a way into the hive. They had been locked out for 24 hours. As soon as I placed the frame of brood in the hive box they all settled down and started going in the box. It was like I put a new queen in. I had to brush them in from the sides to get it closed due to they were all climbing up the side of the box to get in. 10 minutes later they looked like a normal hive. I also got the base mounted on the tree trap-out today. I will be placing a hive box on that one in a couple of days.


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## GOHoney (Jun 19, 2013)

I have just been feeding the colony on the house trap-out. I opened them Saturday to have a look. I have an 8 frame box on it and all 8 frames are full of bees. I will be taking off 4 frames of bees this week. I have been trying to give them some time to build comb. Most of what I gave them was foundation. Will post pic's on take out.


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## GOHoney (Jun 19, 2013)

I took off four full frames of bees today. No queen. I have one coming tomorrow. I left four plus frames in the trap hive.


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## GOHoney (Jun 19, 2013)

The nuc I started from the house bees is doing great. I was at the house yesterday afternoon and seen a big cloud of bees come out. They looked like new bees doing orientation flight. They all flew around back at the original entrance. I thought they found another way out. I added some caulk but I could not see any way they were getting in or out. They all ended up going back into the hive box. I am going to take off 5 more frame this Saturday.


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

GOHoney said:


> May have bad news on trap-out. The property owner said late yesterday there was a swarm in the timber next to his property about 90 yards away. This afternoon when I looked there was a lot fewer bees coming and going.


This can actually be a good thing when the queen emerges and goes on her mating flight she leaves through the trap and can't get back in and sets up shop in the trap


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## GOHoney (Jun 19, 2013)

It has been a month since I put in the trap cone. The hive I started with the bees I took off this house are doing great. I looked in today and the queen I gave them has two and a half frames of capped brood, eggs and larva. There are still between 5 and 8 pounds of bees in the trap. Their numbers don't seem to be increasing so I am disconnecting the trap from the house tomorrow and attaching a screen cone to the tube. I will leave the hive box there for another week or so and if no more are coming out seal it up and call it done.


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## GOHoney (Jun 19, 2013)

I think this one is ready to wrap up. I disconnected the hive box today and put a trap cone on the entrance. I watched for about 30 minutes and seen nothing coming out of the house. I will leave the box with 5 to 8 pounds of bees for another week and keep an eye on them. I did not look inside so don't know if the queen is in the box. She was not two weeks ago.


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## Buzzlightyear (Dec 4, 2013)

Great trapout Keep us posted on the yay or nay of the feral queen.


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## GOHoney (Jun 19, 2013)

OK, this one is done. I have seen no activity from the house for a week. I looked inside the box today to make sure if the queen was there. No, in my opinion. Keep in mind I think the colony swarmed just before I put my trap on. I did find today a capped queen cell and one capped drone cell. I assume a worker has laid some eggs and they tried to make a queen. They have been queenless for some time now. I am picking them up in the morning early AM, saying it is not raining. Question's, should I destroy this queen cell? I was going to combine these bees with the hive I started from this trap, any dangers with adding a laying worker? 

Thanks.


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