# Best place for swarm trap?



## jlk (Jul 5, 2001)

What's the best place to hang afive frame nuc as a swarm trap?In the woods,out in the open?how high off the ground etc. Thanks John


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## Fuzzy (Aug 4, 2005)

I just put em someplace close to the flight path to good forage. Get lots of visitors and an occasional swarm.


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## jrbbees (Apr 4, 2010)

Do a search on this forum for swarm traps.

You will find lots of info.


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## Mike Gillmore (Feb 25, 2006)

Swarms are opportunists and will move into any cavity that meets their immediate requirements. But to increase your odds of attracting a swarm to your box I can think of a couple basic principles of trap placement to give you more success. First, set the trap up at least 6-8 feet off the ground. They are looking for a home safe from ground predators and prefer an elevated entrance. Next, try to position the box so it receives early morning sun facing South-SouthEast, preferably with some kind of north side protection. 

Scents work wonders too. Use a swarm lure or Lemon Grass Oil to attract scout bees. If you have used frames to put in the box a "hive scent" is also very attractive to the bees. 

As jrbbees mentioned, there are a lot of threads you can search out to give you more ideas. Good luck.


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## Adrian Quiney WI (Sep 14, 2007)

From recent threads it seems the best place for a swarm trap is San Mateo California...


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## Ted n Ms (Apr 25, 2008)

On fence line or field road,on a gas line right of way. All with a little shade. I caught 9 out 10 last year . The one with no result was in full sun.


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## Tia (Nov 19, 2003)

All the info given here is great, but if you really want to be amazed, get the book, Honeybee Democracy by Thomas D. Seeley. He goes into great detail describing his research into swarms. It's all very easy to understand the way he explains it and his directions are easy to follow. This is one of the most entertaining, enlightening books I've ever read and I recommend it highly.


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## PCM (Sep 18, 2007)

You MUST have some Bee Hives in the vicinity. 
Set up a dozen swarm traps, and if there are no bees in the area, you won't trap any.

Some books are saying, "to become a beekeeper go and trap a swarm"
Sure, a swarm on every corner block !!

Take things you read on Forums with a grain or two of salt !

I say Good Luck.

:lookout: PCM


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## PCM (Sep 18, 2007)

Adrian Quiney WI said:


> From recent threads it seems the best place for a swarm trap is San Mateo California...


YEP, 
Right out in the middle of the Almond thickets, with several million Hives !!

:lookout: PCM


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

Adrian Quiney WI said:


> From recent threads it seems the best place for a swarm trap is San Mateo California...


I doubt that my area is any better than similar neighborhoods up and down California or other similar climates across the world. My biggest advantage has been having a huge percent of my bees die the last few winters, supplying me with ample used combs to attract new swarms. I think I read that there were 12 million new hobby beekeepers in the US since 2008. That's a lot of poorly managed hives casting swarms, many started from packages with good commercial queen stock. I caught ten in San Jose, and most of the bees were lovely yellow, gentle, quiet stock, furthest genes from `feral' I have ever caught. They produced a crop, and now 70% are dead.


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

PCM said:


> YEP,
> Right out in the middle of the Almond thickets, with several million Hives :lookout: PCM


I am several hours drive away from almonds and all the other large scale commercial agricultural beekeeping.
My bait catches are from ferals in hollow oak trees, hobbyist hives and fellow sideliner beekeeper's hives. I have caught eight on my street several years in a row, and just for the first time met a local sideliner who came to buy honey from me. He keeps 35 hives at his family home less than a mile away, and buys packages regularly. He was raving about how many swarms he catches, guess where, near my family home where I have kept hives for 40 years. I caught four at my electrician's house, and later saw a Craigslist add by a sideliner selling swarm nucs, who lives half a block away from my electrician. 
It is easy to catch fish at a trout farm. Like a lot of other things, location, location, location.


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## beefarmer (May 2, 2010)

i tried the waxed cardboard nuc boxes for trap this year and put in 3 frames of drawn comb with a swarm lure and only caught wax moths!!!! i think next year i'll try foundation to still give the wax scent and hopefully won't pick up the moths.


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

beefarmer said:


> i tried the waxed cardboard nuc boxes for trap this year


This cardboard bait caught a swarm three hours after being placed out on a table. After two hours the host called "there are at 200 bees around the trap!!!" At three hours he called " they are coming down the alley... they are turning in the driveway!!!"


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## paintingpreacher (Jul 29, 2006)

For you that use old combs in the bait hives, how do you keep the wax moths from taking over?


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## Mike Gillmore (Feb 25, 2006)

paintingpreacher said:


> , how do you keep the wax moths from taking over?


Never had wax moth damage the comb when treated with this.
http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=225796


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## Adrian Quiney WI (Sep 14, 2007)

Frank, I'm jealous.


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## Tors (Jan 6, 2006)

I have two at the bottom of my garden where I can see them from the kitchen, just had one land, 8.30 am new years day in Melbourne, it was 40 C yesterday and humid stormy 26 C today.


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## VodoBaas1 (Mar 26, 2013)

Mike, link is no good.


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## Mike Gillmore (Feb 25, 2006)

Seems to work for me. Here is the current last page of the thread. 
But it looks like Sundance will not be selling any more this winter. 

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?225796-Agree-WG-Bt-Aizawai-Powder/page12


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## sterling (Nov 14, 2013)

beefarmer said:


> i tried the waxed cardboard nuc boxes for trap this year and put in 3 frames of drawn comb with a swarm lure and only caught wax moths!!!! i think next year i'll try foundation to still give the wax scent and hopefully won't pick up the moths.


Put a few chunks of burr comb that been scraped of the top of the frames in the trap for the smell.


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

> Seems to work for me. Here is the current last page of the thread. 

Mike - as you are a Moderator you may have _SuperPowers _ and be able to see that Bt thread. But for us _mere mortals_, that thread is not accessible.



It does appear that Bt v. _aizawai _ is no longer readily available in retail quantities. I can't find it available anywhere online (USA).


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## Mike Gillmore (Feb 25, 2006)

OK, guess I better take off my X-Ray Glasses. 

Well, I'm glad I still have some left over. I'll look around too, but you are typically pretty thorough so I trust your results.


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## Barry (Dec 28, 1999)

Rader Sidetrack said:


> Mike - as you are a Moderator you may have _SuperPowers _


And he doesn't even know it!


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## VodoBaas1 (Mar 26, 2013)

So, does anyone know where to buy Bacillus thuringiensis var. aizawai anymore?


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## Mike Gillmore (Feb 25, 2006)

Google "Agree Xentari BT Aizawai". I found a couple of places you can order online.


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## VodoBaas1 (Mar 26, 2013)

Great, thank you! I was searching but your search is much better than what I was finding on Google.


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

There are a number of Bta manufacturer sites, such as _Valent _and _Certis _that show up with Mike's search phrase, however, I certainly did not see _any _page that will sell Bta online.

The closest the manufacturers come to _selling _is an invitation to contact their regional salespersons. I would be surprised if they are open to selling in _small _quantities.

If anyone does find someone selling in backyard beekeeper sized quantities, please post a link. I'm in the market.


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## VodoBaas1 (Mar 26, 2013)

All I can find so far:
http://www.hidhut.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=XenTari&x=19&y=15


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## Mike Gillmore (Feb 25, 2006)

Bingo!


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## REDWOOD (Feb 5, 2014)

Above 10 feet of the ground facing south with some old comb (darker the better) and a few drops of lemon grass oil with a solid floor


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