# Nuc as a swarm trap?



## stacie (Feb 8, 2011)

Hey everyone, I'm preparing for my first year with backyard bees just outside of Atlanta. 

My hive gear will arrive in a few days from Brushy Mountain, but my bees won't be here until around May 18 (from Rossman). 

Besides components for two hives, I also ordered a deep five-frame nuc, and since I'm eager to get going, I was wondering whether a nuc is a decent thing to bait to see if I can't get a swarm to move in. (We don't have AHB in my area.)

Any thoughts on this? As a fan of doing things the hard way, I was planning to go foundationless, but perhaps having some frames with beeswax might encourage any scouts who locate the nuc? Also, the Complete Idiot's Guide to Beekeeping suggests lemon oil or lemongrass oils as a readily available attractants. Any thoughts on whether these are adequate, or should I order swarm bait?

And finally, any thoughts on whether I should expect this to work? Are urban areas teeming with swarms of bees who might find my nuc? I can't say I've ever seen one in person, but this is a very wooded city, as is my neighborhood.

Thanks everyone. I've been an avid reader of this forum for some time, and have learned mountains from your conversations here.


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## WilliamsHoneyBees (Feb 17, 2010)

Use whatever equipment you have for your traps. I use 5 frame nucs, 10 frame mediums, and 10 frame deeps. I have never bought any swarm lure from the catalogs because they are too expensive and I have heard they are mainly lemon grass oil anyways. I use LGO and catch swarms. Urban areas are awesome for catching bees. I set traps in town all the time. Urban areas are loaded with places for bees have colonies. Heres my you tube video that talks about using dead queens and catching swarms a little. I wish I gave more information in the video on the subject but here it is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvhFwur1E50


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## concrete-bees (Jun 20, 2009)

Stacie 

Nucs sometimes work for bait hives but are usually too small 
they are nice cuz they are light but really they need the full deep size box for bait hives 

for my bait hives i use old bee boxes that have soft sides or cracked - i just tape up the holes and hang them up 
i also staple moss and sticks to them as well - makes them a little less eye catching to others 

i keep a lot of nuc boxes around for splits or small swarms that i come across 
usually if they are that small i just combine after they draw out a few frames - slave labor (they make fast work at new frames - so why not?)

also foundation alone is not going to give you very good results - swarms that are out scouting will take an empty box over one that has foundation in it - what you really want to use is 2 frames of OLD black comb and a few drops of LGO - this will get some results !!!!!

but read up on bait hives on Google and what i like to do is click the Image section - and SEE what others are using - rather than reading all night long !!!!

good luck and hope this year makes you happy


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## samw446 (Feb 2, 2011)

I tried it last year, using 5 nucs, different locations, with lure. Didn't have any luck.


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## Grant (Jun 12, 2004)

samw446 said:


> I tried it last year, using 5 nucs, different locations, with lure. Didn't have any luck.


All this talk reminds of fishing at Leech Lake in Northern Minnesota. There's a reallly cool sporting goods store with several clerks who double as enthusiastic fishing experts.

Someone comes in and says, "Boy, we didn't have any luck at 3-mile point."

The expert says, "Oh really, were you using minnows?"

"Nah, just crank baits."

The expert comes back with, "You have to use minnows! You'll catch fish like crazy on minnows!"

Then someone else comes in and says they were fishing at the same spot with minnows and didn't catch a thing. The expert then says they needed to fish the deep water.

The conversation drags on and out with a hundred variables. Catching swarms is like fishing: Some have luck and some don't. Two guys will follow the same advice, one catches a swarm, the other won't.

And one year hardly defines success/failure. Every year is different. Last year was a challenge for us in SE Missouri. Very few swarms in my traps, and likewise, few swarm calls.

Me? I use 6-frame nuc boxes. I make my own swarm lures for about 2 cents a piece and they contain the nasonov pheromone. I also use frames with wax foundation inserted between a frame or two of that nasty black comb. But then I've also had swarms more directly into winter dead outs before I had the chance to get back to that yard and clean up the equipment.

But there are some tricks, like where you hang the trap. PM me for the details.

Grant
Jackson, MO - where I prefer trapping swarms to fishing, except there's less beer involved.


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## stacie (Feb 8, 2011)

Okay, thanks guys. My takeaway is that I can give it a go, and in the worst case I'll have a nicely scented nuc.


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## RiodeLobo (Oct 11, 2010)

I would like more detail on the homemade lure please.

Thanks
Dan


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## arnaud (Aug 2, 2009)

I never had any luck to attract swarms with nuc boxes. Then again, I never had any luck with 10-frame deeps either, or the other swarm traps I built (last year I assembled two wooden wine crates, drilled some holes and inserted a frame of old comb, and didn't catch anything but... wasps).

Then again, I had put a deep with comb in my most remote apiaries (where I didn't do a very good job at swarm control, obviously), and it failed to attract a swarm. Instead, a swarm settled on a branch of manzanita less than 4 feet away. Maybe it would have eventually gotten to that box. Maybe not. The good news is that I got there before it left (two weeks before, I had another hive that swarmed, and they settled on that same branch, like they often do, but then moved on before I could get to them), and was able to shake it into the box right there. That swarm is doing wonderfully.

This year, I'm not going to have any extra boxes for swarm traps, except for those I built out of random containers. So I'll put those around, plus some other homemade traps (I got two big styrofoam containers, the type Omaha Steaks uses to ship their goodies). I have plenty of lemongrass around, so I'll rub some of it inside those boxes, and put some comb in there as well.

Frankly, since I've never managed to attract a swarm, I'm not holding my breath. But I'll still put those around, just in case.


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