# keeping critters (wax moth etc) out of traps



## FlowerPlanter (Aug 3, 2011)

BT (search) wax moth treatment for comb.

Make sure there is no pollen in comb to attrack pests.


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## jrbbees (Apr 4, 2010)

entrance: if you have hole big enough for small birds, add nails across the entrance. leave bee spaces.

Frames with old wax: spray with certan (search the forum) it has a new name now but I am old and don't remember it. It is a bio safe spray with a natural bacteria that kills wax worm lava but does not bother the bees. Do not use any frames with honey or pollen in them. That is just SHB bait.

Wasps and yellow jackets: Suit up take them out. Put the trap back up.

Any thing bigger: shotgun


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

>I am hoping that Odfrank will chime in here as he seems to have the corner on this market.

"corner the market - to become so successful at selling or making a particular product that almost no one else sells or makes it"
I do not have a corner on the market....all the beekeepers in the world are welcome by me to trap swarms. 

I have few pest problems in my bait hives. Before setting out, I extract any honey out of the old brood combs I use and let bees rob them dry, this usually makes them unattractive to ants. I only set them out during the swarming season, 3/1 - 6/1 in my area, wax moth larva's here generally only do damage late summer to fall. Of the ones I left out until fall this year, only one of maybe ten of the unfilled ones got larvae damaged. I do use pollen combs. Treating with BT might be a solution where wax moths are a bigger problem than here. SHB is in my area but so far not a big problem.I only have one apiary in nearby wilderness where any hives have had mouse damage, I have never had bird or mouse damage in hives in suburbia. I do most of my trapping in suburbia, where birds and mice are less prevalent than in the country. Quarter inch screen over the entrance could be used as mouse guards. Do not use screened bottoms on bait hives, I think that is a deterrent. 

My success in trapping is only because I live in a suburban, temperate climate where the density of beehives and swarms is much heavier than other places, not because I know anything more than you. All I use is old combs in a five or more frame box. and a few drops of lemon grass oil. There must be swarms to catch swarms. My first catch this year was in an untreated dead hive, and my last catch was in an open box with no top and only a follower board in it. I have a giddy video about that in an earlier thread this July. 

We have many hollow oak trees for wild bees to occupy. We have year round blossoms for the bees to visit. We have the Eucalyptus globulus flow from Halloween to Memorial Day which produce both pollen and copious amounts of nectar. We have thousands of other bee food producing plants in irrigated suburban gardens blooming year round that make hives swarm a lot, sometimes producing several swarms at one time or swarming twice in a year. Bees here thrive, therefore they swarm. 

Most important, we have local beekeepers and bee clubs who import probably 1000 packages of bees into my trapping zone a year. Many beginning beekeepers here, and even experienced beekeepers, do not realize that a good hive here can easily produce 200 lbs of honey, and that requires 5-6 medium supers in addition to a double brood chamber. So when a beginner throws a $75 package with a young mated queen into one or two boxes in April, and our flow goes strong until July, that hive becomes full and swarms. When numerous beekeepers do not remove honey from honey clogged brood chambers in February, their hive swarms in March or April. BINGO!!!! $150 of bees with that nice young $25 queen is looking for a home and guess who is a hospitable innkeeper, housing contractor and slumlord offering them a FREE home? Uncle JollyOllie of course!!!!


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## Noah's Ark (Mar 28, 2012)

Thanks all for the help, I realy appreciate the info, now i just have to wait for spring and try to catch somemore bees. 

odfrank, i guess corner on the market may not be the right phrase, let me say a very active and succesfull program going. I have enjoyed reading the swarm and overwintering contests.

Flowerpower, I did get some BT for my honey supers storage so i will give that a try.

Mat

Mat


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