# Swarm Tool Box



## 123989 (Jul 30, 2018)

Evidently I am going crazy waiting for swarm season. I have bought a large tool box and have stocked it for swarm retrieval. I have everything I can think of to capture swarms. I have it sitting next to a 5 frame nuc, a 10 frame deep and have a step ladder standing by as well.
(My wife thinks I am crazy) 🙄

By the way what do you all keep ready for chasing swarms?


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## BeePrepared (Jan 22, 2021)

fadder said:


> Evidently I am going crazy waiting for swarm season. I have bought a large tool box and have stocked it for swarm retrieval. I have everything I can think of to capture swarms. I have it sitting next to a 5 frame nuc, a 10 frame deep and have a step ladder standing by as well.
> (My wife thinks I am crazy) 🙄
> 
> By the way what do you all keep ready for chasing swarms?


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## BeePrepared (Jan 22, 2021)

Your wife and mine, both evidently have similar opinions of their respective significant others. I say just 🐝 cool about it and carry on. I was building 3 swarm traps. After reading your post I might bump it up to 6. How about we re-define “crazy“.


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## 123989 (Jul 30, 2018)

BeePrepared said:


> Your wife and mine, both evidently have similar opinions of their respective significant others. I say just 🐝 cool about it and carry on. I was building 3 swarm traps. After reading your post I might bump it up to 6. How about we re-define “crazy“.


I have 8 myself. It was 10 but I gave 2 away. LoL


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## JWPalmer (May 1, 2017)

fadder said:


> By the way what do you all keep ready for chasing swarms?


We could turn this thread into a discussion on all the different tools and supplies one might want to have when chasing swarms. I will start with a question, How many queen clips do you have in your tool box? If only one, you need to research just how many virgins could be in a single large swarm. My recommendation would be no less than five clips.

Some other items:
rubber bands
duct tape
staple gun and some #8 hardware cloth
old bed sheet
dish pan or 5 gallon bucket

who wants to continue?


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## Gray Goose (Sep 4, 2018)

loppers
small pole saw
spray bottle
Ratchet strap
flashlight, I like collecting in the dark....

GG


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## BeePrepared (Jan 22, 2021)

Gray Goose said:


> loppers
> small pole saw
> spray bottle
> Ratchet strap
> ...


What’s in the spray bottle,Goose?


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## 123989 (Jul 30, 2018)

JWPalmer said:


> We could turn this thread into a discussion on all the different tools and supplies one might want to have when chasing swarms. I will start with a question, How many queen clips do you have in your tool box? If only one, you need to research just how many virgins could be in a single large swarm. My recommendation would be no less than five clips.
> 
> Some other items:
> rubber bands
> ...


I have the following:
Sheet
Hand pruners..large and small
Staple gun and staples
#8 hardware cloth
Rubber bands
Duct tape
Honey-B-Gone
Swarm commander
Queen clips....3... I will be upping that to 5
Spray bottle

I don't have any rachet straps but it sounds like a good idea as does the bucket.


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## 123989 (Jul 30, 2018)

BeePrepared said:


> What’s in the spray bottle,Goose?


If he's like me it's for sugar water.


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## Gray Goose (Sep 4, 2018)

BeePrepared said:


> What’s in the spray bottle,Goose?


Water, a light mist will cause the bees to stay rather than fly away.
Not sure But I think the bees think it is "raining" and hang out for a while.

Some add sugar to also feed to calm bees.

GG


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## Gray Goose (Sep 4, 2018)

fadder said:


> I have the following:
> Sheet
> Hand pruners..large and small
> Staple gun and staples
> ...


Once hived I ratchet strap them both ways then carrying and moving is not likely to jar the lid and have bees on the outside.

GG


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## Cobbler (Jan 6, 2021)

BeePrepared said:


> Your wife and mine, both evidently have similar opinions of their respective significant others. I say just 🐝 cool about it and carry on. I was building 3 swarm traps. After reading your post I might bump it up to 6. How about we re-define “crazy“.


My wife hated my beekeeping for 10 years. Now she goes out hunting for swarm trap locations with me. She argues a given tree’s merits and demerits - shade, height, girth, approach path, human traffic, elevation relative to surroundings, etc. She’s into swarms. That’s huge, because successful trapping means more bees in our yard and more of my time going to bees. I’m not saying she’s going to be suiting up and doing a hive inspection any time soon, but she’s coming around. The biggest factor in her change of attitude about beekeeping was making all the honey she wanted available to give out to her friends as Christmas gifts.


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## 123989 (Jul 30, 2018)

Gray Goose said:


> Water, a light mist will cause the bees to stay rather than fly away.
> Not sure But I think the bees think it is "raining" and hang out for a while.
> 
> Some add sugar to also feed to clam bees.
> ...





Cobbler said:


> My wife hated my beekeeping for 10 years. Now she goes out hunting for swarm trap locations with me. She argues a given tree’s merits and demerits - shade, height, girth, approach path, human traffic, elevation relative to surroundings, etc. She’s into swarms. That’s huge, because successful trapping means more bees in our yard and more of my time going to bees. I’m not saying she’s going to be suiting up and doing a hive inspection any time soon, but she’s coming around. The biggest factor in her change of attitude about beekeeping was making all the honey she wanted available to give out to her friends as Christmas gifts.


You all put WAY more effort into it than I do. I just find a tree and put a box up. I don't particularly look at it's girth or anything else. I do try to put them on the edge of a woodline... except when I don't. LoL. I have 8 traps and I caught 14 swarms last year.


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## G3farms (Jun 13, 2009)

I like to keep a piece of window screen in the truck.
You can always find a cardboard box, duct tape the flaps closed.
Use a razor knife to cut a couple of windows in the side of the box, duct tape a piece of window screen over the cut out, then push the cut out into the box. 
Bees can over heat in an unventilated box.

If you really want to get fancy make a small trap out cone that is turned to the inside of the box, be surprised at how many stragglers you can pick up in a short time. Plus it will keep any of the foragers from flying off once you have them in the box.

I also have a 25' surveyors pole that I tape a bucket onto. The pole will let me raise the bucket straight up and down. There is no way you can manipulate a bucket with a couple of pounds of bees in it on a long pole and let it down sideways.

I like to set traps out in what I call "hot spots", places in an area that I have gotten multiple swarm calls before.

Biggest thing I hear from people that have swarms in their back yard are "you are the fifth person I have called and nobody else would answer the phone". You have to get over the if I don't know the number I will not answer it.

Have them send you a pic of the swarm, or at least describe it. Ask them to keep an eye on the swarm and to call you if they fly off.......will save you some travel time.
Good luck


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## Gray Goose (Sep 4, 2018)

fadder said:


> You all put WAY more effort into it than I do. I just find a tree and put a box up. I don't particularly look at it's girth or anything else. I do try to put them on the edge of a woodline... except when I don't. LoL. I have 8 traps and I caught 14 swarms last year.


1) need to be swarms there
2)1 person or 10 having out traps

your numbers are very good.
Some years I have 8 traps out and get ZERO and the 2 or 3 other people i know have 1 or less.

every county is different.

GG


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## Cobbler (Jan 6, 2021)

I would add a telescoping paint roller pole.

I think mine is 18 feet long. Several times I have taped a 5 gallon bucket to the end and bumped the swarm off the branch into the bucket. Once I did this after climbing up a 20 foot ladder. Total success on a swarm almost 40 feet off the ground.


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## 123989 (Jul 30, 2018)

Gray Goose said:


> 1) need to be swarms there
> 2)1 person or 10 having out traps
> 
> your numbers are very good.
> ...


I have two trees in my yard (regular yard, not bee yard) I get swarms from every year...at least for the last three years. I guess a lot of it Is luck but so far so good.


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## Cobbler (Jan 6, 2021)

fadder said:


> You all put WAY more effort into it than I do. I just find a tree and put a box up. I don't particularly look at it's girth or anything else. I do try to put them on the edge of a woodline... except when I don't. LoL. I have 8 traps and I caught 14 swarms last year.


You are probably right, but I am setting my traps in suburban Portland, Oregon. I don’t have permission. I’m just putting them in wetland and natural areas. That usually means something like a walking path nearby. I am trying to go mostly unnoticed.

I feel like it helps to put the box in a tree that is big enough to conceivably have a cavity big enough for a beehive. If the bees are going to scout out 30 square miles, I feel like they’re probably skipping over scrubby trees and concentrating on the champions of the neighborhood. I have also found that I have not done well in trees growing on the side of a steep gully or retaining wall where the trap is essentially underground relative to the nearby ground. Then there’s getting out on the edge of the tree line, not in the forrest. And I’m trying to get a mile or so between each of my 22 traps. So, just finding a tree is kind of a effort. We are out for a walk anyway. It’s good to have a purpose. 

with all that said. I caught swarms last year in all of my traps that were baited with black comb. One spot was awesome - 3 swarms. But the other spots all seemed to work well enough.


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## gone2seed (Sep 18, 2011)

fadder said:


> (My wife thinks I am crazy) 🙄


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## Cobbler (Jan 6, 2021)

gone2seed said:


> View attachment 61846
> View attachment 61846


Yes, I definitely feel like I LOOK a little crazy walking around, off the trail, looking up into the trees. I'm not sure I would SOUND any less crazy if someone asked me to explain myself.


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## SMARtBees (Mar 7, 2018)

I like to borrow my friend's bee-vac he built (maybe even designed). I haven't had the opportunity to try it out yet since most have been on tree limbs and things that are easy enough to get to. I have photos somewhere...




  








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## LAlldredge (Aug 16, 2018)

fadder said:


> Evidently I am going crazy waiting for swarm season. I have bought a large tool box and have stocked it for swarm retrieval. I have everything I can think of to capture swarms. I have it sitting next to a 5 frame nuc, a 10 frame deep and have a step ladder standing by as well.
> (My wife thinks I am crazy) 🙄
> 
> By the way what do you all keep ready for chasing swarms?


Idea- screw in a round magnet on the box so you can magnetically attach your hive tool. Ebay is a good source for the magnets.


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## welder 59 (Feb 21, 2018)

I have some old plastic frames I cut the middle out of. Great for cutting comb out and rubber banding in place. They will follow that right into a box.


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## Pchristu (Aug 10, 2016)

Cobbler said:


> You are probably right, but I am setting my traps in suburban Portland, Oregon. I don’t have permission. I’m just putting them in wetland and natural areas. That usually means something like a walking path nearby. I am trying to go mostly unnoticed.
> 
> I feel like it helps to put the box in a tree that is big enough to conceivably have a cavity big enough for a beehive. If the bees are going to scout out 30 square miles, I feel like they’re probably skipping over scrubby trees and concentrating on the champions of the neighborhood. I have also found that I have not done well in trees growing on the side of a steep gully or retaining wall where the trap is essentially underground relative to the nearby ground. Then there’s getting out on the edge of the tree line, not in the forrest. And I’m trying to get a mile or so between each of my 22 traps. So, just finding a tree is kind of a effort. We are out for a walk anyway. It’s good to have a purpose.
> 
> with all that said. I caught swarms last year in all of my traps that were baited with black comb. One spot was awesome - 3 swarms. But the other spots all seemed to work well enough.


I’m also in Portland (NE). I stopped setting out traps anywhere other than my backyard; always catch a few there.


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## Pchristu (Aug 10, 2016)

Binaca. If a swarm is hanging on a low branch and I can shake it into a box, I liberally spray the original site with Binaca (you could also mix your own peppermint or wintergreen). Helps to keep the stragglers from regathering, so they keep flying and end up with the rest. Guess you could also use BeGone or any other spray used to clear supers, but some STINK.


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## Cobbler (Jan 6, 2021)

Pchristu said:


> I’m also in Portland (NE). I stopped setting out traps anywhere other than my backyard; always catch a few there.


Why did you stop setting traps in a wider range?


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## 123989 (Jul 30, 2018)

Pchristu said:


> I’m also in Portland (NE). I stopped setting out traps anywhere other than my backyard; always catch a few there.


I don't know if it's legal and a game warden couldn't tell if it was, but I put a couple of boxes on a wildlife management area.


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## hankstump (Jul 30, 2014)

A good professional pole saw set up is nice. You can attach a bucket if needed, or a saw. If you get enough sections, you can reach 20+ feet up. And they are stout enough to hold a full bucket of bees. Some have adapted a 5 gallon water bottle (Carboy) to a pole with the bottom cut out of it to get the tall swarms. 
I also carry a clippers, lopper, and a folding saw.
My box is the same as my swarm trap, 10 frame deep. A couple frames of comb, dark and light, and some frames with starter strips. I use air filter fabric/material to stuff in the entrance for moving. 
I also bring along some snacks and refreshments. Get the bulk of the bees in the box, take a break and watch/see what they are doing, chat with the neighbors, then make adjustments. Come back at sunset to move them to get all the foragers. 
Leave your card so the neighbors will call you next year when the swarm shows up again. 

Cheers, Phil


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