The Complete Guide to Building a Swarm Trap or Bait Hive - Episode 2

[@markwilson452]

I can’t say thank you enough I made 5 boxes using your design and scrap stuff I have had and for the first time in 2 years of trying I have caught 2 swarms. Appreciate you sharing

[@johnsteelman372]

Awesome box thanks a lot for the plans I have caught two swarms thanks to you

[@Danjr-p9w]

Great video. Very informative and easy to follow.

[@billranahan1022]

Thanks Much 😊

[@tterry53]

Very good and informative video. I managed to catch 3 swarms this year without a trap but plan to make 1 of these for next year.

[@AdamKendall98]

Awesome video! I used your instructions to build four traps this year. First year trying the swarm traps. Thank you for all your info and instruction!

[@LSUTigerMom]

Today I cut out pieces for a swarm trap with tedious (ridiculous) measurements from another video, ex: 18 15/32' x 19 3/16". Good grief. So fortunately I found your video with 'normal' measurements! I am using your directions tomorrow when I give it another go. Thanks so much for posting this video!!! You have a gift for teaching!

[@benjamindejonge3624]

Got it as well in metric, thanks from the world

[@onlinefarmbooks]

This is a great video. I built some traps based on this plan 2 years ago and they are still going strong. One point I will disagree with is I would NOT recommend 3/4 wood. I made 3 with it and they are just way too heavy. This is one time where going cheap is better...

[@stevensanders7427]

good job sir!

[@christophertideberg1873]

Nicely done. I will be making a few of these this year. Thanks for posting.

[@benknrobbers]

First thing I noticed was your sawstop tablesaw. My thumb twinged in appreciation. So jealous.

[@GourmetGaloreNET]

First thing I noticed was how shitty his form was and how likely it is to cause some pretty nasty kickback.... then I noticed he had a sawstop and KNEW he was a dumbass.

[@909busa]

The cheap and dirty swarm trap... I like it!

[@tankscrittersandurbanhomes5579]

If you want all of your hardware internal adjust your cuts to put the long sides internal to the short sides and pocket drill the long sides. Great video

[@woodspirit98]

Good video..

[@bradfordseaman7390]

I am not able to find the "show notes" you talk about - I'd like a list of the sizes and dimensions of the individual pieces to assemble the box - please

[@LSUTigerMom]

Thanks for the great video! I made my first swarm house today, thanks to your clear directions.

[@woodworkingaccountant6019]

LSUTigerMom that is great to hear! Best of luck catching swarms this year! If you have success, I would love to hear about it. PS: the LSU baseball fans are the absolute best at the college World Series. They are so welcoming and have some awesome food to share!

[@LSUTigerMom]

So glad to hear that our baseball fans are the best! Hope we go to the CWS again this year. I have now made six swarm houses (I don't like the word 'trap'). I will see if I can post a pic of one on your website. I got carried away with making the cover cute. Thanks again for the great video!

[@trigatupp]

Could you use 15/32 plywood and still use your measurements?

[@kameronwomble1254]

Did you say with these measurements you were using medium frames or deep ?

[@robertiniguez1701]

Dude. Thank you man. !

[@joecnc3341]

Thank You for the Great How-To article!

[@henrybess2903]

Use ECO wood preservative from Home Depo instead of paint and primer then do camo. I did and boxes are still in great shape 5 years later

[@heloshark]

Excellent content!

[@brucewest4862]

What is the thickness of the frame hanger? It looks thicker than the plywood.

[@dougmclelland572]

Great video! Thanks for sharing

[@jethrobodine4638]

Great job David! very informative and easy to follow. Do you sell the boxes as well? I have a bee club with some ladies in it that has asked me about purchasing swarm traps. This will be my first attempt at building and using on my own property. Looking forward to trying a couple.

[@sheilamclaughlin963]

Visegrip sheet metal grips will give nicelines on ur tops, build Nucs and put 2 together for swarm season and then split into them

[@davidlewis4179]

I built my first 3 bait hives in 2019 following basically the same process. @beecatcher6653 has a link to his instructions on his channel but he has gone silent about 3 years ago. My first year beekeeping was 2019 so I didn't have any used comb. So my first year was a bust. So what did I do my second year? I built 3 more. Now that I had used brood comb I caught 3 swarms. I did mess one bait hive up some how. I think that I built the sides using the bottom board as the frame rest was only about ¼". I finally corrected the issue this afternoon. By taking my multi-tool and cutting the side to the correct length.

[@Nepenthe6]

Is that marine grade plywood? I wouldn't use that for bees except maybe a langstroth base

[@CrossroadToCountry]

Do you by chance have a cut list diagram for 4x8 sheets? I have 5 sheets of plywood and am just wondering how you cut your pieces to get 14 traps from 5 sheets.

[@WilliamMcNett]

Nat The Project Guy I'll get on the computer and throw all his figures into a program like, play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fortali.mapcut, and create a pdf. I'll use 47.75x 95.75 for the sheet and 0.125" for the blade kerf. Might be a few days. Until then 🤠 Here's 3 with migratory covers play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fortali.mapcut 3 with telescoping hacknbuild.github.io/blog/posts/Swarm-Trap/

[@woodworkingaccountant6019]

If you follow this, it should get you pretty close. drive.google.com/file/d/1xYAdy7TKH9Q5SVErDdkGBucC4FvUcaWT/view

[@CrossroadToCountry]

Dude that rocks! Thanks!

[@jayanddenissejones6648]

@@woodworkingaccountant6019 Thanks for these details instructions. Do you also have the added details for your telescoping swarm trap top to match your video?

[@TikiHutGuitar]

What’s another term for insulation cap? Or could you put a link? Thanks.

[@bo4638]

Instead of using the insulation caps i'm thinking you could just lower one or both of your handles 1/8 of an inch down before nailing them on to give ventilation. Haven't built any yet but getting ideas. Also I myself overkill everything I do but honestly, leave the kreg jig gadget to the cabinet makers. Your getting very little penetration into the 2nd sheet of plywood. If you would just butt screw it to a 90 you could utilize say a 1 1/4" wood screw. With the kreg pockets your creating a fast way for your would to rot. Consider countersinking your screws and using wood filler.

[@dougie995]

Hey mate, love the videos. I notice your bottom panel is 19.5" wide, but the side panels are only 19.25" wide... What's the reasoning behind the extra .125" overhang on each end of the bottom cover? Cheers, Doug from Australia

[@baddestbees5924]

dougie995 I ASSUME it is because a lot of times if there is no lip at all the Swarm will actually land on the bottom ..well the queen does and then the bees follow, this gives them a place to land instead of missing the entrance hole so to speak. A common problem with swarms it's the only thing I reason I could imagine

[@arthartwell6628]

I would try and use my right angle drill and keep the screw holes inside on the front and back pieces.

[@burnt_toast305]

Is the measurements are in inches, millimeters, or meters

[@aliciawinkler6362]

If you paint it before you put the aluminum on top it may be easier. Also taking it down with removable top seems like a pain. On mine the top hinges on screws(cheap hing) and a cheap snap done clasp on the other side for easier operations. I like the plastic spiners on my entrance hole. Makes it easy to close when taking down or if you see a ball seen during season and have a swarm trap in your vehicle you can put the same in the swarm trap and turn the spinner to queen excluder setting so you can leave the box sit and the bees you didn't get into the box can find their way in to their queen and you can get them all by the evening and close them up with just turning the spinner. Squirrels eat chew them up I'm experiencing with solutions for that. Hot sauce mixed into the paint did not help. Next try will be wrapping with hard wire cloth. Why use pocket screws on part ot it then nails on others?

[@jrmars5434]

I'm wondering about your two vent holes. Joseph Brown who also has Videos on KZbin about swarm traps claims that if you have any holes or openings in the swarm trap other than the entrance hole the scout bees will reject your box as a possible home. I take it that you have not found this o be true?

[@woodworkingaccountant6019]

John Marshall - I have caught quite a few swarms with this style and have found it to be pretty effective. That said, I have never used a trap with only one entrance/exit so I can’t give you a fair comparison. Keep in mind that we are talking about bees which live in hollow trees, attics, etc. so it is very possible that both styles are effective at catching bees. Good luck!

[@szcze]

When you install the trap, the vent holes are closed. After you catch a swarm, if the weather is too hot, you can open the vents. This is what the other person who also makes these same traps suggests kzbin.info/www/bejne/oX3EmmOCo7WsidE

[@stephenhudson5253]

Went with your plan. Question. Do u have a proble with birds getting in? Ive heard thats an issue. Do you think some 1/4" hardware cloth over the holes would mess with the scout bees decisions?

[@michaelcarroll4102]

Put staples over the holes.

[@sergebasque7689]

Nice job, just wondering the size of your frame :)))

[@joecnc3341]

BTW - how are they working? If you even just catch your own bees when they swarm - you're ahead! Maybe think about adding a swing over door to close it up.

[@brunosturm]

For my your trap is overengeneered, it's like a hive the way you do it.

[@banditva8040]

What happen to Episode 1 can't find it

[@billiamc1969]

Kreg screws are way more expense than standard wood screws so I wouldn't recommend them...I use standard coated wood screws for all our beekeeping related assembly. The bees don't care what we use, just make it as economical as possible....beekeeping is already an expensive hobby!!!

[@kathybaucom813]

Please stick with accounting. There's to many things you have done wrong or backwards to list. Sometimes the truth hurts.

[@WilliamMcNett]

BeeFriendlyApiary I like my pneumatic stapler 🤠

[@alanmartin9583]

@@kathybaucom813 please elaborate on what he's done wrong or backwards. It would be helpful to the rest of us.

[@bryanlyons5214]

Hi followed instructions exactly and the telescoping cover is way to long. I used 5/8 plywood and ended up with approximately 5/8" of extra space on the long side of the cover. Way too much play for the cover fittting the swarm trap box. I could see this amount of extra room if you where adding vents under the lid. Possibly I missed the reasoning for so much extra play? I don't think the plywood will swell 1/2 it's width on each side. So far I am thinking the lid length was, I don't know, why put this measurement out there?

[@909busa]

Get a "can do clamp" for 90 degree angles

[@modallastx]

well done, not seeing your "show notes" would you please pass them on...

[@maximdemchenko1657]

Last 2 sec of the video is the best part ahhahahahahaha

[@mattf3238]

What's going on. Are you not posting anymore videos. Did you give up on trapping?

[@dick2829]

Safety first, I hope you never get hurt.

[@benknrobbers]

Look up the brand of his tablesaw. It's a sawstop. Has a safety feature that stops the blade and drops it out of the bottom of the table. There is a video of the guy who owns the company intentionally sticking his finger in the running blade.

[@gabdsung9654]

I think, the bottom part needs to be inserted flush.

[@GourmetGaloreNET]

Ditch that kreg shit and use a dado at the edge, stronger, cheaper and easier.

[@thomaswinkelmann5712]

Do you ever get your traps stolen?

[@Nepenthe6]

I use camo paint to hide them

[@sheilamclaughlin963]

I would have shot them together and forgot th e pocket holes, fast. Way to have the ply rot

[@WilliamMcNett]

A cut sheet, similar to drive.google.com/file/d/1xYAdy7TKH9Q5SVErDdkGBucC4FvUcaWT/view?usp=drivesdk, would be sweet ☺

[@davidlewis4179]

I used these plans 5 years ago from the Bee Catcher's channel.

[@vodoc]

Ahhhh... 5 sheets for 125 dollars...

[@dick2829]

Your aluminum skills need work. Checkout "a beekeepers workshop" and learn a better way. Great video by the way, keep it up.

[@jrmars5434]

I agree. It's a more precise way to bend the aluminum.

[@ColesFarmNC]

Excellent video!