# Swarm traps and rain



## Kenww (Apr 14, 2013)

I'd start with drain holes. Are things blooming there? It seems like you'd get a lot of things blooming with the rain, the bees would build up, and swarms would start. I've caught some swarms, but I'm not an expert.


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## gww (Feb 14, 2015)

I don't have suggestions but also leave mine out all year and most were pretty dry but several had mouse nest in and this time of year the mice are having babies. The mice can be hard on the traps and they chew a big hole at the thin part where the frame rest are. I dump them out and bait them and keep my fingers crossed. So far I have only found one with wasp in them. 
Good luck
gww


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

Our local bee year is not the same like every year. This year is unusually wet with lots of rains. So the
swarm season got pushed back to at least in mid-April. When it rains at blooming time like now, it is time
to start feeding your bees. Chances are to collect some early honey is close to nil. If things will be blooming around
April then you will have a good chance of catching a swarm and collect some honey too. Right now is too early with the rains and all. Good to build up the bee population for some later foraging if things are blooming your way.
About the swarm trap, drill some small holes at the bottom channeling the water out of the rear where the wood strip meet
the bottom board. Put a small piece of dry grass in the holes to unclog the hole for the water to drain outside. Also slightly tilting the hive box forward will allow the rains to drain out too.


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## RayMarler (Jun 18, 2008)

Swarms will be starting up in another week. We are forecast for dry after this weekend, and temps are going to start warming, up to 70F really soon. Get your traps out and in place the middle of next week.


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## larryh (Jul 28, 2014)

RayMarler said:


> We are forecast for dry after this weekend, and temps are going to start warming, up to 70F really soon. .


I hope so.
My hives are going through stores like I've never seen. Found one nuc that was just about empty.


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

Maybe in another week or 2 the night time temp. will be warmer above 40F.
Somehow the rains still linger around for awhile. At build up time the hive will use up lots
of stores. Now is also the time to give them a patty sub and sugar bricks to help them along. My
hives are going through the homemade subs within 2 weeks. Making extra feed to keep up!


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

>Swarms will be starting up in another week.

I would think the cold and rainy weather we have been having has delayed buildup in all but the finest colonies.I have only seen one or two scouts poking around, and not sure they were swarm scouts, maybe robbers.


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## Charlie B (May 20, 2011)

I'm ready this year to take on Ollie. I have a new found confidence since I trapped the first swarm in 2016 in the Bay Area and it was his!


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

When they have to build they have to no matter how small the colony is. I have been experimenting on my
2 frame and 4 frame nuc hives. The 3 months old overwintered young queen is thinking that she just got mated and laying
away in the Spring time. We have entered early Spring already. Flowers are blooming everywhere right now. Not going to be
stingy on the patty subs for all hives in this build up. Still freezing in the low 40s with frost sometimes. Maybe by mid-March since the
weather just change to warmer.


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## minz (Jan 15, 2011)

Now you guys know what it is like to swarm trap in Portland Oregon! I think we have got over 10” rain this month. 
I know when I have a swarm capture because of all the tiny umbrellas and rain coats sitting on the entry board!
:lpf:


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## Charlie B (May 20, 2011)

Minz,

My condolences. I lived in your area for 25 years. I couldn't move because I was trapped by my pension. Once I retired, I came down to sunshine and honeybee heaven!


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## larryh (Jul 28, 2014)

wut, wait- sunshine in SF?


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## soarwitheagles (May 23, 2015)

Thanks for the nice replies everyone! And hi Ray, Charlie, Frank, and BeePro!

Well, I did bait each swarm trap nearly two weeks ago, but with all the incredible rain, did not catch a thing. But I got caught...in a darn flash flood off of Clay Station Road early last week after approximately 20 minutes of a near monsoon level of rain here. Early in the morning...still dark...and Dry Creek was well over its banks [nearly 200ft. wide], but not on the road. Drove over Dry Creek bridge, thinking all was well. A few hundred yards later, it looked like only 1 inch of water flowing across the road. It was more like 2-3 feet. Really messed up our new car and almost lost the the car to the flash flood. Learned my lesson the hard way...

Back to the bees...re-baited yesterday using Swarm Commander in some, then some Ebay hot selling lure in another. Hope to set 10-15 traps by next weekend.

Anyone have any more suggestions? And is it ok to use foundation with white wax instead of old black wax? I do not have any black wax.

Oh, suggestions for bees...not suggestions for foolish attempts to drive through flash floods...

I made a choice to no longer drive Clay Station after months of super saturation, and then immediate heavy rains. Will go a different route from now on during those conditions...sure felt like a lame brain after making that foolish choice...


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

Some more suggestions:
Entrances on the bottom with trap sloped to entrance so water runs out. I bought 18 X 24 cookie baking sheets from Web Restaurant Store for $6 each. They overhang all my nuc boxes up to ten frame wide and make for a nice telescoping cover for $6. This wet winter taught me some hard earned and expensive lessons for keeping nucs dry.


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

Charlie B said:


> I'm ready this year to take on Ollie. I have a new found confidence since I trapped the first swarm in 2016 in the Bay Area and it was his!


Charlie, you repeat your fantasies and lies more often and longer than D. Trump.


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## soarwitheagles (May 23, 2015)

Frank,

Thanks for the good ideas and advice...I especially like how you keep your traps dry.

Charlie has shared lots of wonderful info about bees and equipment. No need to get so upset just because he keeps finding your swarms!

Yesterday's Trump speech was the best this nation has seen since WW2. I kind of enjoyed the truth for a change...tuned out the liberal media's lies and deceit and insanity a long, long time ago...


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## gww (Feb 14, 2015)

Sourwithe.....



> Yesterday's Trump speech was the best this nation has seen since WW2. I kind of enjoyed the truth for a change...tuned out the liberal media's lies and deceit and insanity a long, long time ago...


Watch it or you might start something, it will be a lot better when we see what the actions behind the retoric really pan out to be. It is easy to "say" everything will be great. I relize oddfrank started it. It could end up being a really long thread.
gww


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## SHAWHANBEEK (Feb 7, 2016)

It's still real swampy in DC.

Here in southern Ohio I saw a field full of freaking dandelions. I think swarms could be a month early this season.

I agree with Frank on hole location. My new traps will have the hole cut very low on the side so water drains out. I've tried drain holes some but seem to clog and not work too well.


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## soarwitheagles (May 23, 2015)

gww said:


> Sourwithe.....
> 
> 
> Watch it or you might start something, it will be a lot better when we see what the actions behind the retoric really pan out to be. It is easy to "say" everything will be great. I relize oddfrank started it. It could end up being a really long thread.
> gww


gww,

Ok, I will take your warning to heart. And I remind myself this is a forum for bees, not politics. 

Only thing is, when I told my bees that Trump won the election, they suddenly realized that for the first time in a long, long time, they will be need to be personally responsible, and that even though bee medicine will be lower priced, there will be no more free rides. Then they began to work for a change, got off the sugar syrup welfare, and are producing honey for the first time ever. They also informed me Russian bees might work better during this administration and I might even get a better tax break on my apiary. 

Then I learned that illegal killer bees that migrated from south of the border may be deported to make our nations after. Finally, to top it off, I was told by the bees that hives leaning sharply to the left perform incredibly worse than hives that lean to the right. Dang politics!

We better focus more on bees...who knows, we just might learn a few lessons from them!


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## gww (Feb 14, 2015)

Soar.....
I thought my bees should be doing better but they kept getting stopped and frisked. They had to show thier IDs before they could vote to move into my swarm traps.
Cheers
gww


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## minz (Jan 15, 2011)

Charlie B said:


> I'm ready this year to take on Ollie. I have a new found confidence since I trapped the first swarm in 2016 in the Bay Area and it was his!


Our weather here has been crap- yesterday they said that this winter was the coldest since 1977. Global warming, I want some! You never realize what 4 degrees below normal means until it stays at 46 you try to get to 50 for a good flying day. 
I am thinking of maybe going with some new LGO this year, I gave away my Swarm commander after I got almost nothing the year I used it. 
Follow Odfrank around and steal his full boxes would be the best suggestions!
Serious suggestion is to do only one frame in a nuc (they like the open space) I use black brood.


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## soarwitheagles (May 23, 2015)

Minz,

That sure is cold! So sorry to hear that. Today we had 70f+ weather and our bees were incredibly active. I was able to do an in-depth inspection for the first time in several months and I am so happy. Several of the hives actually appear to have more bees in them than when we wintered them last November. Not exactly sure how that could happen. Three hives appeared to have no more room for new eggs and larvae, so time to get ready for the splits and the Nucot queen raising system again. Today I installed more supers and more frames with foundation.

Wouldn't be surprised if we begin to see the swarms this week or next. Drones are hatching daily here...and must have been hatching for some time because I see drones in the hives already...wow, this is a strange year in California...


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## Reef Resiner (Jun 9, 2015)

Yup minz. The rains looking to be real bad this year. I hear the bees playing the world's smallest violins right now. Got my traps out today but not expecting much until late April or may.

Our next best day will get to 49 in 2 days. Then another week of 45 and raining. Down sized a hive earlier with our scorcher of a day.

On a high note, they been bringing in more pollen than usual.


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

Soar, at build up time now watch out for the mites. They can crashed a hive if left alone. So what is the
mites level now? I have some hives without mites now. Some still battling with them though. And I'm not treating either.


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## soarwitheagles (May 23, 2015)

BeePro,

Mites in this year [2017] are nearly non-existent in our hives. And I believe the main reason is because we treated with OA vaporizer several times last year, then went with the Apivar in early fall...so they went into the winter with nearly no mites at all.  Keeping a close watch on them now, but not even seeing one mite on the SBB, nor on any bees during the inspections. I broke open many new larvae cups a couple of days ago [new white wax/sealed brood between top and bottom supers] and not even one mite...so this is very, very good news for us!

So far, everything looking really nice with the exception of some mice munching on some of the wax on abandoned hives, and a little on live hives...

Wanted to make a few more swarm traps today, but had to build a gate on fence line with neighbor so we can send our sheep over to mow his forest.

I also was not able to spray new lure on existing swarm traps today...simply ran out of time...

I will tell you something I think you will enjoy....we planted over a thousand fava beans last November...now, massive flowers, and I see the bees working them every day! We hope to plant a few acres of the fava beans next year beepro.

Have a great day!


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

I've seen the bees on our fava beans also. They are very frost resistant just like the mustard Brassica family. Freeze those pods for a later summer treat. What are you going to do with so much beans? I'm planting a Spring crop for May-June production. Maybe a late crop for our summer dearth too. Time to get a good barn cat or 2. 
I am still under the impression that bees should co-exist with the mites without our help later on and so did not get rid of them completely last year. The vsh bees are uncapping the infected broods to keep them in check also. Once the I.I. process is online and have some resistant drones then the fun really begins. Have confidence that this can be done!


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## soarwitheagles (May 23, 2015)

Beepro, we planted the fava beans for several specific reasons and purposes: 

1. Cover crop with literally zero maintenance.
2. Water bill is literally zero [when we plant in October and harvest in late March or early April].
3. Seed bill is zero [we save seeds from the year before, often obtaining over 60 seeds per plant. Smaller varieties can produce 300+ seeds per plant].
4. Provide a silage that is super high in protein for our sheep.
5. For personal consumption [they work great for flatulence wars].
6. For sales to generate more income [having zero costs, it is a total money maker].
7. To give away to friends.
8. To obtain free, massive increase of nitrogen into the soil [200 lbs. per acre].

Whew! Now I am out of breathe!

On a side note: Fava beans grown in the Central Valley grow best if planted in October and harvested in March-April. If you plant in Feb-March, you can harvest but high heat days can damage the plant severely.

Here's come cool info on fava beans from UC Davis Small Farm site:

http://sfp.ucdavis.edu/pubs/brochures/favabean/

In California, fava beans are grown as seed crops along the coast from Lompoc to Salinas and in the Northern Sacramento Valley, but in other areas of the state they are grown mostly as a cover crop or for green manure.

Fava beans are a relative of vetch, a determinate type with erect, coarse stems and large leaves without climbing tendrils. It grows to be a bushy plant, two to seven feet tall. The white or purplish flowers are born in clusters on short stalks in the axils of the leaves. The large-seeded varieties bear 1 or 2 pods at each node while the small-seeded types produce from 2-5 pods. The pods produced are up to 18 inches long and contain from 3-12 large beans. There are about 15 pods per stalk on the large types and 60 pods on plants of the small-seeded varieties. When stored under favorable conditions, most bean seeds have a life expectancy of 3 years. "This plant is used as livestock and poultry feed, for a cover crop, and as either a green or dry vegetable. It is also used as a coffee extender when roasted and ground. The dry beans are about 24% protein, 2% fat, and 50% carbohydrate, and have 700 calories per cup.

Favas can also produce large amounts of biomass making them quite attractive as a green manure crop. 20 to 40 tons per acre of green forage worked back into the soil as organic matter shows promise in enhancing the tilth of many clay and sandy type soils. In addition to the organic matter benefit, the leguminous nature of fava beans can provide large amounts of nitrogen to the soil benefiting existing perennial crops such as orchards or subsequent high nitrogen consuming annual crops. Green manure yields have been determined in several research trials throughout the state, starting as early as 1903. In the foothill county of Amador, 4.9-5.5 tons per acre were reported. A trial in San Bernardino county produced 22 tons per acre of biomass, while a U.C. Berkeley report estimated trial yields as high as 34 tons per acre.


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## hankstump (Jul 30, 2014)

Caught my first swarm of the season yesterday. They came from my Russian neighbor down the street. I accepted the illegal immigrants with open arms and gave them sanctuary. 
Swarm season is on here in the Bay Area.


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## minz (Jan 15, 2011)

Reef Resiner said:


> Yup minz. The rains looking to be real bad this year. I hear the bees playing the world's smallest violins right now. Got my traps out today but not expecting much until late April or may.
> 
> QUOTE]
> 
> ...


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## Reef Resiner (Jun 9, 2015)

Rain or shine northwest battle of the chicken wing swarm competition?! Let's do this!


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## soarwitheagles (May 23, 2015)

Hank,

Congrats on the captured swarm...hoping we can capture some now too!

Quick question: what lure are you using and how often are you applying it?


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## hankstump (Jul 30, 2014)

In the past I have been using Honey Bee Attractant made locally by Alice Rosenthal, but my bottle is now empty. Lemongrass oil is my fallback, as its always in my kit, and its cheap. I just bought some Swarm Commander to try it out, and just finished setting up 6 more boxes this afternoon. A warm week is predicted here, and dry, so I might get lucky again. 

I refresh about once a month. 

Cheers,


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## soarwitheagles (May 23, 2015)

Thank you Hank. I too have the lemongrass oil...and last year I actually rubbed real lemon grass on the inside walls of the hive and then we experienced sweet success with a number of swarms caught. Yes, I suppose now is the time to set out as many boxes as possible...that is our goal for this coming week.


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## Beregondo (Jun 21, 2011)

Minz & Reef, you two are funny.

I wish I was living somewhere as dry as Portland...it's a bit wetter up here in Oly.

But the hives do if you put them on little pontoon barges, two hives to a 3x5 barge.

Still, I bet I'll have more swarms caught than either of you when I run out of boxes to put them in.....


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## minz (Jan 15, 2011)

I checked the Growing degree day calculator- we are 11 days behind the 30 yr average and 37 days behind the last year (real warm). I figure mid-April this year to hang my traps.
Each year I say that it is too much trouble to drive all over to pick up a swarm in the middle of the night, not doing it anymore. Every year I end up driving to get one!
Beregondo, I keep watching the storms go just North of us-Got to say that you guys need some water wings for the bees and outriggers for your hives! If you were as poor a beek as I am you would have plenty of gear in the spring to put bugs in!
If you aint at least smiling you’re doing it wrong!


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## Reef Resiner (Jun 9, 2015)

Running out of boxes is an automatic disqualification.


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