# How long do cardboad swarm traps last



## Mr.Beeman (May 19, 2012)

Way too many variables to give any kind of guesstimate and I've never used a cardboard one.


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## shannonswyatt (May 7, 2012)

Seems a lot of folks say one season. My guess is that if you are in Arizona they last longer than Oregon.


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## shannonswyatt (May 7, 2012)

On the other hand, I was wonder if one of these boxes would work for a swarm trap: http://www.bojangles.com/buzz/detail/bigbobox

About 18 liters internal size, a little under a 5 frame nuc. I picked up two for free by asking when I got some coffee. They fold flat so I'm going to leave them in the car in spring just in case I need something to put some bees in. The cardboard is coated but I don't think they would far well in weather and would fall apart if they started to pull out comb.


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## Maryland Beekeeper (Nov 1, 2012)

I had one last the season. I coated outside w/ Wax-n-feed(@ home depot) beeswax and orange oil. I built a frame of 1/2x1/2 pine to reinforce inside. Going to try concrete forms (cardboard tube) next year.
Cheers,
Drew


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## Stingboy (Feb 6, 2010)

I use a 6 gallon peet planter you get at the garden supply. Cover 3 of the 4 drain holes with screen then the 4th hole don't staple it shut all the way. leaving a longer tail so you can staple it shut when you collect it. The top is made with plywood plug with a sloping roof. Then starter strips covered with wax and propulis, fill a small container up with LGO i get off of e-bay. I've had 4 thats lasted years but i store them under the deck in the fall so the rain won't turn them to mush.
Ya got to love them free bee's! The weak swarms or swarms with virgins are combined to make some good hives.


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## shannonswyatt (May 7, 2012)

My father, cousin and I made a batch of 15 Robo style swarm traps last week. http://robo.bushkillfarms.com/downloads/beekeeping/BushkillSwarmTrap.pdf
Not sure of the exact cost since we had glue and some scraps and other hardware, but each 5 frame nuc style swarm trap was under 3 dollars out of pocket, not counting frames. You can put in frames or you could go frameless. If you have a friend or two that wants to do some traps this is kind of a fun little project to do together for very little cost and when you are done you will have traps that will last for years. The nice thing about the this type of swarm trap is that if you needed to you could use it as a 5 frame nuc. You could easily modify those plans to come up with an 8 or 10 frame box if you prefer a larger box.

I made a bunch of top bar nucs this fall for use as swarm traps. While I'm not sure of my exact cost per box I'm sure that it was at least 10 dollars a box. 

If you want to not have to do any work at all the commercial traps are probably the way to go, but for me doing the work is the fun part.


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