Catch your own FREE BEES!! (Building Swarm Traps)

[@jenniesue927]

Anne, apropos of something completely different: having listened to you on a couple podcasts, YOU ARE THE BOMB for including your mental health and academic struggles in your story. Thank you for being such a vulnerable badass!

[@davidmiedema2950]

Got to love that late spring tarp harvest...

[@waynealbright6030]

Just watched your Aug 15 2020 live stream. You mentioned that you want to make a frontier home for the public thing to show people what it was like to live 200 years ago, had to laugh, my mother's grew up in fentress county Tennessee in the 40s & 50s and they way they lived was just like it was 200 years ago. A lot of people lived that way in the south. I used to spend a month during the summer with my grandparents ( I loved it) no electricity or in door plumbing until 1978. Used a mule to till the garden until late 60s. But I absolutely loved getting up to milk the cow gather eggs for breakfast, feeding the stock then working with my grandfather ball day. But any way do it as a camp for kid's they would love it, learn new skills and could be profitable for you.

[@mattevans-koch9353]

Thank you Anne for providing future homes for the bees. We need as many bees as we can get. I think Miss Lucy remembered she had a hair appointment when you ask if she wanted to help. Take care and have a great week ahead.

[@BarbaraFischer4]

You are so cool, Anne! The bee’s knees. 😀 Also, Lucy is such a good helper!

[@AnneofAllTrades]

Hahaha something like that...

[@bobalspach6050]

My uncle use to have bee hives when they lived on Vashon Island. Very cool

[@MarkThomas123]

Springtime is a great time to add some new frames to your brood boxes and let the bees fill them out.. Put at least 1 old frame in your swarm boxes. It's been my experience, that if you have at least one or two frames in a box, you are much more likely to have the scout bees to put it higher on the list of box choices to share with the other scouts for a vote.. Attractants are good to get them to the box, but, if it was good enough for other bees, and you have plenty of space it the bottom for growth (like a tree), it will usually work. Just remember to keep an eye on them. When they swarm, they are in Wax production mode and they will make a complete mess out of the bottom of your frames if you leave them in there very long. Trick is, move them within 2-3 days max of a swarm moving in. Move them to the new box, and close the entrance off for 3 days, then open them up and they will swarm around the box and get their bearings before flying off on their foraging runs. (Re-Orientation to the new box location). Trick to getting a swarm it also to put them where the Scouts/foragers will see the boxes when they are scouting/foraging. They will stop and check it out and remember where it is for later. If you get lucky to get some wild bees, you will be in business. I picked up a swarm and, they have been the hardiest bees I have ever had. BTW. I don't feed them, treat them with any of the products for mites, etc and they do fine on their own. I have a bottom board and I don't even close the entrance off for the winter months. They have been with me for 6 years now. I don't actively raise bees any more due to lack of time, but, they do fine on their own. I still have 50 or so gallons of my own honey, so, not a crisis yet.. Ha.. BTW.. I think it is best to leave the honey on the boxes through the winter and once you have a good flow, pull them, spin them and put them back on, leaving the ones that are less than full while you are spinning. If you don't want to have problems with them swarming, give them plenty of supers and keep at least 2 empties for the to work into. One if you check them once or twice a week during the flow.. They will swarm when they run out of space. It's just their natural instinct. I try never to buy packages or nukes. I have never had good luck with them. Splits are the way to go off of your own stock. If you want them to start making swarm cells, just reduce the supers early and make them feel like they are going to run out of room and keep an eye on the brood frames for Queen cells.. Pull the frames, shake some bees into the nukes and move the frames closer together and add some new frames to the outside of the box and add at least 2 new supers on top and that should stop them from wanting to swarm. If you want to start raising queens and focus on them and make the whole deal a little easier, Jay Smith has a "Better Queens" series of small books that are very good.. Just remember. All bees are NOT the same. They didn't read or write the books we read. Get an idea of what you think will work and let them bees tell you whether you are on the right track or not. I have had queens service two boxes during the flow, and I have had colonies use a second hive close to them to store their honey. You would swear you had a swarm move it, but, open the box and all you see is honey and Bee Bread, and No sign of brood. Ever, but, the box is super busy all day and guard bees at the entrance all night long. It's only winter when they move their resources back to the main hive. I have seen them rob the other hives on warmer days during the winter. Just moving from one box back to the main hive. I know lots of keepers that would call me crazy for suggesting what I just said, but, my bees must be different, or, they just simply are not paying close enough attention.. Ha..Ha.. Good luck with the bees. I mix my Spring Honey and we have a heavy Locust flow in the fall. The Locust is too sweet in my opinion, but, mixing it,, it's fantastic!!

[@Kkuts37]

This was so cool! Hi to Mom of all trades! And of course Lucy!! :)

[@JamesDeese]

I am so proud and glad to see that you didn't let the setback of the pandemic stop you. We can recover if we can keep the government out of the way. Keep it up. Your dreams may be delayed, but not canceled.

[@AnneofAllTrades]

Dreams stay alive as long as we keep feeding them! Sometimes timelines just have to be adjusted ;)

[@fredericrike5974]

@@AnneofAllTrades Life has an annoying habit of getting in the way of dreams. Some dreamers are just unstoppable! FR

[@papaowl13803]

Nature at its best. You help it and it will help you. Hand in hand with the rewards joyful.

[@dizzaster9453]

buzzin x :-/ grate to see spring is actually going to happen this year ... was starting too wonder, it must of had its covid jab ! so could the end be comeing ??? ....... thanks 4 the vid Anne, glad u guys survived the lockdown winter xx

[@t_4178]

Giant swarm box.. wow

[@tiffanyherrman3534]

Just started researching beekeeping, so this video is perfect timing!

[@phildxyz]

Old English tradition has it that it's unlucky to pay for bees - so it looks like you will be lucky! Best wishes from the UK.

[@tonyburelle6633]

Always love watching you create

[@beerbuzz62]

Awesome video

[@clydedecker765]

You need to make a communication shelf at the opening so they can communicate with each other about the locations of where they found the best food. Just watch other hive openings as they return with their pollen. The opening is where they do the little dances for each other.

[@AnneofAllTrades]

This is a swarm trap not a regular hive- I’ve never seen a swarm trap with a landing. Not to say they don’t exist, I’ve just looked at a lot of them and never seen any

[@Myopicvisions]

Lucy needs her own channel

[@AnneofAllTrades]

Hahaha I agree!

[@blackdog850]

Yay! A shot of the school barn! Great subject for this video! I just recently heard about being able to provide a home for swarming bees! What an awesome angle I wasn't aware of! Smooth as Tennessee Whiskey? ...Tennessee Honey? :)

[@AnneofAllTrades]

Hahaha I’ll take a little of both please! Stay tuned for an official school update coming very soon!!

[@donaldtrabeaux5235]

That's awesome Anne Bee careful have fun take care stay safe and god bless

[@markmacdonald2347]

Nice video Anne, love seeing your animals especially the donkeys and goats Your complexion looks great Have a good one

[@davidgleaton9073]

a truly delightful way to begin my Saturday morning, Thank you Anne for this slice of spring...

[@AnneofAllTrades]

Thanks for being here!!

[@frankmorris4790]

We have pretty much stopped taking swarms, you trap a swarm of AHB and once they take up residence, it's a pain!

[@FredMcIntyre]

Awesome stuff Anne, thanks for the info! 😃👍🏻🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝👊🏻

[@AnneofAllTrades]

Thanks Fred!

[@SchysCraftCo.]

Wowers that's definitely interestin

[@2300Kenzie]

Who knew "apian" wasn't related to apes? Drone on, Anne. (I mean that in a nice way.) The Draw Curiosity channel has a few sciencey videos about bees and related topics. Her PhD involved flying insects.

[@TheBarefootForge]

You did such a great job!!! I'm glad you caught bees! Now to just catch many many more! GREAT VIDEO ANNE! I hope this inspires others to try their hand at making swarm traps and catching some bees!

[@greatboniwanker]

Happy Bees & 200k subs - Keep 'em coming!

[@AnneofAllTrades]

Thanks so much!!

[@aaronching959]

You are the bees knees. Keep it up.

[@_Merica_USA]

Another great video Mrs Anne 👍🏼

[@AnneofAllTrades]

Thank you!

[@losttribe3001]

That thumbnail made me chuckle! But how cool is it to tend bees? And to get them from a swarm! Nice video as always!

[@waj4177]

Wow that's interesting, please can you make video when harvesting the honey and also how to look after the bees after the season is over. It will be shame for them to fly off.

[@AnneofAllTrades]

Check out my homesteading playlist, lots of other bee stuff already on there, re: honey harvest and maintaining hives :)

[@robvegart]

If you can get African bee's, though agressive, they provide the best honey in the world. This is my understanding from watching public programing regarding the invasive species.

[@8stringmonkey]

So that's what the term free bees comes from 😉. You may still be able to find morel mushrooms but the season has pretty much passed. Never tried the one that you found.

[@bmeicx]

Great video!

[@AnneofAllTrades]

Thank you!

[@ThePaulus2010]

very nice... and a good way to do it.. what will you do if you get a really aggressive swarm in your trap?

[@AnneofAllTrades]

Then you leave them in the trap and wait for another swarm next year 😂

[@johncwhite]

Great video. Glad to have you in the Nashville area. Do you have any idea when you are going to start up in person classes again?

[@AnneofAllTrades]

Thank you! We are so happy to be here! In person classes won’t start until I’ve finished building my school ;) and I wish I could see into the future with that, but we shall just have to see what happens. With materials as high as they are right now some pieces of then build are playing a waiting game.

[@TheDriftlessHomestead]

I will set up some traps for next year . Great info!

[@AnneofAllTrades]

Good luck! Lots of places it’s still the right time to catch swarms

[@d-sow-13]

Awesome stuff Anne, thanks for the info on these, makes it look a lot less overwhelming than I initially thought! Definitely be building some this upcoming Winter for the homestead. Just a heads up from my bad experience hahaa, watch those fingers as you use the electronic nailer, was making air-prune beds this Winter and one nail found a knot and blew the nail back up out of the wood RIGHT into the tip of my finger :O If the fingers can stay away from that 1-2"'s where the nail MIGHT be going, it can save you weeks of painful typing/digging in the dirt! lol

[@robertmurphy5573]

Anne, can you use home cut lumber such as pine, tulip poplar cedar or oak for the hive? Plywood has become expensive and I have a sawmill and lots of woods.

[@elund408]

many will say it is better than plywood as it does not have the glue and the vapor. for catch traps it doesn't matter because they are their such a short time. Most commercial bee hives are pine.

[@AnneofAllTrades]

Yeah it’s actually much better to do that, I just was using what I had on hand :)

[@jackthompson8019]

Very interesting. Unfortunately, the city that I live in does not allow bee keeping. Ottawa, Ontario Canada.

[@AnneofAllTrades]

What?! That’s insane

[@Chris-yb5dj]

Is part 2 coming Anne???

[@AnneofAllTrades]

Yes! Very soon

[@bradquinn2859]

Did you make the frames?

[@andrewpaterson4672]

putting it up high? How do you expect to get the honey out?

[@AnneofAllTrades]

You don’t extract honey from the trap, you trap them then install them in hives ;)

[@andrewpaterson4672]

@@AnneofAllTrades how is the trap different from a hive? trying to read the blog post but so far no dice.

[@AnneofAllTrades]

The trap is shaped a specific way to entice the bees to enter, but it’s not a great longterm solution for them. Think of it like trapping a feral cat, you make it enticing enough for them to come in, but you do t leave the cat in the trap, you make a nice home for it. They come in, get established, the Queen starts laying eggs to replenish the numbers after the swarm, and then you transfer them to their forever home, which is much larger and can be added to as the colony expands. A swarm of bees is going to look for something like their natural environment to move into, so we replicate a big hollowed out tree with our swarm traps. The bees won’t just naturally find an old hive and establish themselves in it because traditional hives are low to the ground and are therefore more “vulnerable” for the bees.

[@abiel.rodriguez]

Does that hive have a queen?

[@AnneofAllTrades]

Yes, swarms generally travel with a Queen, but it’s always good to double check!

[@jamesklove9629]

Why the open space below the frame

[@idlewildsage8088]

Super cool!! Great job, Anne! How does the queen bee enter into the equation when trapping swarms like this?

[@AnneofAllTrades]

The swarm brings a queen with them :)

[@idlewildsage8088]

@@AnneofAllTrades cool!! Thank you :)

[@dwaynethompson1885]

Does Mom of All Trades have her own KZbin Channel?

[@nline2blast722]

You could be my sister love ya! Have a amazing day!!!

[@trevorallen2274]

This is proving to be a very "swarmy" year in north central NY. While working our bee yard, 2 hives swarmed right in front of us., Sigh.

[@MedicatedOMO]

I'm still waiting on the cafe racer build. Do you still have it?

[@AnneofAllTrades]

Patience is a virtue, I moved our whole farm across the country unexpectedly and don’t have anywhere to work on it while I’m building a new shop ;)

[@emmybeans1124]

It’s been almost a year since I’ve seen the farm! Can you believe it? P.S. it’s me Emily

[@ThinkB4UAct]

I 💘 this video. Are we gonna sale honey too. Can we buy honey with the brand Anne of all trade lable on it

[@elvisdepelvis4431]

Is there any chance that one is hijacking someone else’s bees with such a bee trap?

[@l.m.2404]

Yup, but bees swarm because they have out grown their present hive . It is the current bee keeper that should have a new hive ready and if not * shrug * ... their loss is Ann's gain.

[@elvisdepelvis4431]

@@l.m.2404 I see. Thank you for explaining.

All honeybees in North America were imported from Europe, so any out in the wild originally came from someone's hive. There's no point in contesting ownership. If you don't want to lose a swarm, provide extra space for your hives to split because they will naturally do that eventually.

[@l.m.2404]

@ contrary to popular belief, there are over 4400 different North American bee species that are independent of European bees.

@@l.m.2404 I said honeybees. There are over 20,000 known bee species in the world, and 4,000 of them are native to the United States, but none of those 4,000 are honeybees.

[@Pembroke1]

Cool now don't get stung

[@mickeybartlett1274]

You need a queen.

[@plaisirdelanglais]

That was my exact thinking. Or can you just get one separately instead of buying the whole hive and that is how you save money?

[@AnneofAllTrades]

Swarms bring a queen with them, that’s actually what keeps the swarm together, being attracted to her pheromones.

[@aaronbowen6510]

From my basic understanding; even if it were the rare occasion of a swarm without a queen, it’s still a lot cheaper to only have to buy a queen than it is to have to buy a whole colony. Especially if you can find someone locally to buy a queen from.

[@drewfoxworthy1057]

How do you know that you are not catching bees that belong to another bee keeper?

[@sdspivey]

Looks like you need to milk Lucy and make some cheese.

[@JimOKeefe3]

Our bees swarmed AWAY last year so I want to invite (not trap) some bees this year. You're right, why pay?

[@roscocsa]

this is one of those nopes for me. scared todeath of bees

[@whatzupLizzy]

Do you think the pig and donkeys think they will be getting royalties from this video? #youtubefarmanimalsshouldbepaid 😆

[@AnneofAllTrades]

Haha where do you think their feed comes from?!

[@GokTurkBey]

hve you eaten lucy yet?

[@AnneofAllTrades]

She’s a pet

[@waoh2010]

So, to catch bees for work I need a rabbit and a dodo? I’ll show myself out