# First trapout of 2015



## tsmullins (Feb 17, 2011)

Looks like a nice trap setup. Hope it works well for you.


----------



## Denniston (Mar 19, 2015)

I like the looks of your trap. Last night I was looking at Cleo Hogan's style trap then today on my way home from Easter dinner at the in laws, I was wondering why one couldn't use pvc for the transition piece. Looks like it can be done. I have access to two feral colonies that I need to start trapping. Since I'm brand new to beekeeping, I don't have any brood frame to put in the box. Do you think they would draw out new foundations?


----------



## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

Yeah they will if they need them the key is for the old entrance to be.near the brood and the box as close as possible and the queen run out of room to lay any of those things are off and they'll turn it into a pollen box unless you use a funnel and get eggs from someone/ buy a queen.


----------



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

You can indeed use PVC pipes, dryer vent cord, rubber hoses, anything that will connect the trap to the transition on the tree. Using wood just made it easier to install the little funnel that i started with many years ago. (Funnel is used when doing an elimination trapout). You can also make a screen cone funnel and place inside the trap. Works just as well.

cchoganjr


----------



## Denniston (Mar 19, 2015)

Harley Craig, 

Can you elaborate a little on the design of your trap? It looks like you have a pvc flange on a board attached to the tree. Do you have another flange attaching it to the nuc? If do you just start out with the box on there? Does the pipe extend into the box at all? What is the diameter of the pipe?

From what I was reading of Cleo Hogan's material he suggests to put the entrance on for a few days then add on the box. What I was thinking is doing like you have with the pvc flange and then making like a ring our of a 2x4 or 6 to beef up the wall of the nuc to slide it over the pvc. But if you are having success with just making it all solid and putting the box up right away, I'll give that a shot.


Jason


----------



## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

it's a standard 5 frame med nuc ( I run all mediums) which is a little small for a trapout, but I don't want to remove the colony. The connector is a standard 3in toilet flange ( 2 of them one fits inside the other ) I put the board with flange attached and silicone around the board early spring when not many bees had started flying yet. Once it warmed up enough that they started coming and going on a daily basis I installed the box. The board with the flange attached to the tree has a shelf that the box sits on so it slips off easily. My hope and plan is when we get closer to swarm season and the queen is looking for any place to lay, she will enter the box and lay eggs , once this happens I will close up the entrance with screen, slip the box off and cap the flange on the box and just take it home for them to make queen cells or if my regular hives are ready, I'll just bring one frame home covered in nurse bees and place them over a cloak board and use that method for raising cells. my only hope is the queen uses my box as a regular part of her brood chamber, looking in the hole of the tree, there is comb about 3 in away from my box so there is a good chance it might happen.


----------



## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

here is a close up of the connection Outside flange is mounted to the seal board on the tree and painted orange Inside flange is painted blue and mounted to the box. I used the different color paints so the bees were used to going into orange , if you noticed from the video the end of my box where their new entrance is located is also painted orange. Not sure how much this helped them re-orient, but it didn't take them long at all to figure it out.


----------



## Denniston (Mar 19, 2015)

Harley Craig,
Thanks for the clarification. One thing. About the flanges? Are they two different flanges? My experience is that two flanges that are the same would not fit together. Is there a 4" pipe to connect them?

I got two of these today: http://www.menards.com/main/bath/toilets/toilet-installation/closet-flange/p-1340777-c-9418.htm


----------



## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

one is an inside flange the other is an outside, meaning one goes in a 3 in pipe, the other goes over a 3 in pipe they fit a little sloppy but not enough for the bees to use if you push them all the way together.


----------

