How To Trap Honeybees!!!

It’s about that time of year for honeybee swarms, one of the most exciting things in beekeeping !!!
In this video I show you the swarm traps I built and use so you can make your own and try your luck! They’re very simple and cheap to make, often times just from scrap wood you have laying around the shop. Give it a try; it’s so much fun!
I use @Swarmcommander exclusively to bait my hives. Bee sure to check out their website and order yours today! Happy Trapping!
Amazon Link
amzn.to/4bKXQ0r
#bees #honeybees #beekeeping #swarms #swarmtrap

[@BrianCooper901]

Good timing! You covered the topic well. I think the way you do your videos around subjects will keep your videos relevant and hopefully keep them high up in the search so they will be highly viewed well into the future. Thanks for sharing!

[@beesintheweeds]

I appreciate that Brian! One can only hope. Haha! Cheers my friend.

[@radsk5]

Last year was my first year trying this and I caught 10 swarms 👍🏻this year I’m building 30 traps and hopefully catch 25 + swarms

[@SylantBill]

Caught 9 swarms last year and 7 were caught by a body of water.

[@mmb_MeAndMyBees]

Hi there. Here in Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 last year, a huge incoming 'Swarm' found me and my Garden AND went x15 Inches ! From the Washing Line Pole, into a Hive Stack next to it. (A Deadout that had demised : older Queen !) Always a loss, losing a Hive. But all that Drawn Comb, some Honey Stores in mini Arcs around a few Frames : Will always be a "Magnet" to Call In a passing Swarm. What's not to like ! 👍 A Double Height Nuc x5 over x5 will always be more desirable : than a Single x10 Deep. Here local Beeks recommend a Minimum of x 41 Litres as the Space they need. Also x1 Drawn Comb, and x3 Empty Frames: inside the top Box will enhance Bee activity to fly "In" gather in a Cluster, and then start 'measuring up' and making brand New Comb. Hope this helps. 😎 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝 Happy Beekeeping 2024 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝 Also a bit of Lemongrass Essential Oil : on a bit of Card, held within a small Food Baggie with a few Pin Holes punched into it. Helps this LGO to slowly 'frangrance' the Air to "Smell" like Queen Phremones ! 'QMP' is what the Queen uses to Rule her Hive : And keep Hive Work in order and this 'Democracy' governs the Colony. 🙃

[@daymondhughes8848]

I understand not putting wire in the frames. The problem I have had in the past is the bees don't seem to want to attach the comb to the side or bottom of the frame and the new comb is very soft and can break off under it's own weight if you turn it to the side to look for the queen, brood etc. So if time permits i will probably add wire or vertical wood stabilizers in the frame to keep this from happening. No one way to do things, as many beekeepers would have you think. Good video by the way. I think you make it very concise and understandable. Giving examples of both what you do and what others may do.

[@beesintheweeds]

Thank you!! That is exactly what I aim to do. Explain things in a very logical manner. It’s probably my engineering brain. lol. I appreciate your kind words very much. As you have stated, there are so many ways to successfully keep bees. We must all do what works best for us. Thanks for watching and cheers!

[@DeepSeaDv]

you could use plugs/tape to cover the vent holes at the top and remove them when a swarm moves in.

[@richardthompson8423]

Great video

[@beesintheweeds]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@BohemiaBees]

Great video Josh !

[@beesintheweeds]

Thanks Jason!! Hope all is well brother!

[@GrillingNetwork]

Some great advice!! I bought some swarm commander at the conference this year and am excited to see if I have any luck

[@ADVENSOY]

Thanks for sharing

[@josephrawls]

Enjoyed the video. Lots of good information. I have put lure on tree limbs before to encourage swarms to land lower. I like the pill bottle idea. Thanks.

[@ayatti26]

Great info. You have that hole in the 2x4. Can you use that to hold the trap in place with a nail, while you go around the tree with the rachet strap.

[@beesintheweeds]

Yes! In fact that’s what I plan to do as you will see in a future video I struggle with just the strap. lol 🤦🏼‍♂️🤣 There’s definitely an easier way. Thanks for watching!

[@troysimpsonhoneyridgefarm6]

Good job Josh!

[@beesintheweeds]

Thanks Troy!!

[@thomaskopec5454]

Shade cannot be understated! IMHO

[@TheBurntSportsman]

Got mine out in NE Mississippi

[@thomaskopec5454]

SHADE #1

[@juliacamp6790]

Thank you for this video. My son and I built a long top bar hive just as a fun project to learn a bit about bees. My husband baited it with lemon grass oil and we have left it alone in the back yard and watched it. We havent seen any activity yet, so i wondered if there was anything else we could do to invite wandering colonies to move in. I have some old beeswax that i purchased many years ago from a local bee keeper. Its not filtered, just melted down into a big brick. I use some of it from time to time and have a lot left. I think i will melt some down and run a strip of wax down the middle of each bar. Then i will keep rebaiting every week. I might even purchase a bottle of the bait you recommend. What do you think? Do you have more suggestions for me?

[@beesintheweeds]

Hi! Bees like old stinky boxes and not fresh wood. Make sure there is adequate bee open space in the hive. About 40L. If you had one bar of drawn comb that would help a lot but I imagine you don’t. Swarm Commander works a lot better than just lemongrass oil in my opinion. I think it’s worth every penny. Especially if you are trapping multiple colonies like I am. You could add some bees wax to the underside of the bars. Maybe a little bit of wax on the sides of bottom will also help. Good luck!!

[@leehillard2841]

Agreed, lol big swarms are always unreachable small ones at eye level. So try

[@beesintheweeds]

Hahaha! Yes!!!! 🤦🏼‍♂️😁

[@kd8fki]

Next one you make could you boil the trap in paraffin wax or bees wax?

[@beesintheweeds]

Yes. You could.

[@PAPSROYALAPIARY]

Great points on trapping bees, yes Tom's 15' height, its kind of overrated, lol, who is crazy enough to walk around with a ladder just to hang/take down swarm traps, let alone check on them or rebait them; couple things I do different that I learned over the years, its worth to mention that all my apiaries are surrounded by swarm traps and place a bunch in locations I know my bees dont get to, I run about 40 traps, depends on how willing I am to drive around to check on them, I do use plastic foundation now because all those frames enter my main honey production inventory so when I spin honey out of the frames, I don't have to keep on collecting comb from the bottom of the spinner as majority of the unwired natural drawn comb will blow out of the frames; second, all my succesful traps gets removed and placed to a "treatment" yard where I treat for mites immediately, thus not have to treat an entire yard just because I introduced a fresh swarm in it, therefor I don't have to worry about those swarms re-swarm again; once I treat them, depending on how strong the swarm is, I added to either a honey production yard or multiplication yard; if any of the swarms I catch comes from my apiary, that particular swarm I tear it apart and use it for mating nucs, as I am trying to eliminate any swarming tendency in my genetic pool. Another thing I do with all my traps....I produce a lot of propolis tincture, once I filter that tincture, the leftover "mud" I add regular alcohol to it and "paint" the inside of all traps, may it be the new ones I introduce, or old ones, as every year before I hang them, I freshly "paint" the inside of them with that propolis mixture I mentioned above; I catch a lot of swarms each year, but because I live in MI, each year I have winter losses so those swarms comes in handy. Good luck trapping this year. Dan

[@beesintheweeds]

Excellent points Dan and thank you for the feedback! I’ve heard a lot of beeks having success with the tincture you mentioned though I haven’t tried it myself. Perhaps I should! Cheers to you and your bees and happy beeking!

[@PAPSROYALAPIARY]

@@beesintheweeds Thanks; just finished watching your bee expo video, I use swarm commander too, but I also keep all queens I kill, put them in the refrigerator in a bottle with alcohol, crush them when I have enough, filter the solids and use that liquid also on the traps, it works just as good as swarm commander, bit cheaper, especially when you hang as many traps as I do, lol. Good luck to you; Happy beekeeping.

[@beesintheweeds]

@@PAPSROYALAPIARYI’ve heard of keeping the queens and using that as a lure. Never tried it myself but makes sense that it works well! Great tip!

[@gloriayoder5173]

Great information! I am curious, have you tried staggering drawn frames of comb with frames of full plastic foundation heavily waxed?

[@beesintheweeds]

That’s unlikely to work as the scout bees are looking for an empty void of space. It’s meant to simulate the hollow of a tree. Of course there are reports of swarms moving in to abandoned Langstroths full of frames so anything is possible. Haha. Thanks for watching!

[@windsock3]

How often do you “rebait” the swarm traps with Swarm Commander. (Swarm traps that are hung on trees). Thanks! Enjoy your videos!

[@beesintheweeds]

So glad you enjoy the videos! I rebait my hives once a week. Cheers!

[@TheRainHarvester]

I had some empty hives get invaded by wax moth /larve. They ate holes in my frames and hive boxes! Major damage! How do i avoid?

[@beesintheweeds]

Empty swarm traps or empty hives? An empty hive will always be subject to wax moth attack. They are attracted to the wax the bees left behind and the protein that’s in the cocoon shell a bee leaves behind when she emerges. Without bees in the colony to patrol, old comb is exposed to wax moth damage. I don’t recommend leaving empty hives full of old comb for long periods of time. It’s asking for trouble.

[@AngryPeasants]

why not wax the osb?

[@beesintheweeds]

You absolutely could.

[@kentcostello5286]

Hay do you coat the inside of the swarm traps with beeswax ?

[@beesintheweeds]

I do not coat the inside of the traps with beeswax or anything else.

[@slava790]

Tom Seeley recommends moving the occupied bait hive at least 2 miles away to prevent bees from returning. Do you do that? I would like to place my bait hive about 150 ft away from my hives and then place the swarm into a hive next to my other hives. Do you think that would work?

[@beesintheweeds]

I do not do that personally but I understand his recommendation. Like I mentioned in the video, foragers will return to the original location of the trap and ultimately be lost. Honestly, this is no different than nature as I have “missed” many swarms that took off from a branch and many bees remain behind, obviously doomed to never find the new location. Mother Nature at its best. Thanks for watching!

[@mmb_MeAndMyBees]

Slava. . . Tip : You can keep any "Bees" locked up and internally Fed for say x5 Days or so : Ideally with the Hive having a Screened Floor, and also an Internal Screened Top Board (below the Roof.) So if you have an 'unusual' Warm or Hot Weather : You can 'Mist' that top Mesh Screen with a House Plant 'Mist Sprayer' Bottle, with a little Water. To keep them Cool, and to give them some Water to Drink : 'lick'. Maybe also lift the Roof a tad, at one end, 'onto' a temporary Small Stick during Daylight hours. This will stop any Bees 'overheating.' They should be fine "wafting their Wings as their own AC when Airflow and Water is provided. But any Bees moved or trapped inside a Box long term can get to 'warm & overheat'. So monitor them several times during the Day. . . Until they are settled in to their new Apiary Site. Release Day : Then on opening the Entrance : Make it a tiny Opening say an x1 Inch Wide Max ! They can Defend this and Reign their 'new Environment' much easier ! 👍(Neighbouring Hive that are established and much stronger in Population) : could 'Rob them out' ! So don't let that happen. . . 🤭 Hope this helps. 😎

[@coryharper2938]

just sand the inside with some fine grit sandpaper

[@didierhouet1595]

What do you call the spray

[@beesintheweeds]

It’s called Swarm Commander. There is a link in the description. Cheers!

[@raymondrobinson5251]

Try a Russian scion

[@beesintheweeds]

What’s that? I’ll have to read up on it!

[@kentcostello5286]

Back when i was a tree trimmer it seemed the beehive in a tree were above 16 feet off the ground. Now im too old to climb up that high.

[@beesintheweeds]

Well that height makes perfect sense! Thanks for watching!

[@brettellis1837]

Lol no frames mate best bait bees wax melted down plaster the in side of trap heat up on paint scraper bee glue is good to mix with wax. Last year 108 and all holes in traps plaster out side of hole 🕳. 😂😂 .

[@briancrawford3973]

Frames make it easier to transfer into hive box. Why create a bigger mess?

[@jlm4295]

Thanks for your nice video GREETINGS from Johan D. A BELGIAN SERVANT SOLDIER OF ALMIGHTY GOD YESHUA HAMASHIACH JESUS THE CHRIST SAVED BY GOD'S LOVE GRACE AND MERCY HALLELUJAH Be BLESSED PROTECTED AND WELL IN YESHUA'S NAME AMEN