The EASY Way to Catch a Honey Bee Swarm!

Being lucky and at home when a hive decides to swarm. this is the easiest way i have found to catch a swarm IF you catch them before the queen lands and have the 2 essential equipment pieces 1 frame of old brood comb and a bottle of swarm commander. ENJOY

[@CNBarnes]

I do the exact same thing. Once bees start landing on it, I set it into a Nuc box (with the lid open), just so I don't have to worry about them dropping into the grass or brush).

[@WoolieBsApiary]

my thing is work smarter not harder

[@massachusettsprepper]

Now that's a very easy way to catch a swarm indeed my friend. Thanks for sharing.

[@shawn8163]

This method also works great even if you find a swarm in a ball already. Take a drawn out frame and just hold it to the swarm they will walk right onto it.

[@WoolieBsApiary]

yes sir i have been doing that for years even the ones that are at ground level i have a video to release of me and a new beekeeper doing that exact thing.

[@giffordshoneyfarm8626]

I have never thought of doing this but I am going to try this. You have some good ideas sir and looks like your having fun

[@WoolieBsApiary]

Most always having fun. I like working smarter not harder

[@MarcellaSmithVegan]

Isn't a swarm made of the old queen and the majority of the hive's bees? The virgin queen hatching out a couple days later with the nurse bees left behind? The virgins can leave the hives for days at a time to be mated, if the bees all thought she was swarming away everytime she flew away for days mating that wouldn't make since. Newbie, just asking

[@sarahcarpenter8173]

I had a hive swarm 3 times last year, watched them leave the hive and land. So they can keep swarming and you don't have any bees left. Newly also.

[@WoolieBsApiary]

you are correct but the top bar hive that i shook them into has a laying queen a week after i put them into it. as sarah below states a hive can swarm itself to death. each virgin comes out and takes a portion of the hive with her.

[@jacobuslodewikusjoubert4467]

As far as I know,the older queen leave with some bees. The virgin queen that survive mate and came back to the hive. The other hatched queens being killed by the first born,because she is the stronger one(exceptions on the rule). So swarming to death, highly unlikely. Think about it. Why does the older queen leave before hatching of the new one? She will be killed by the stronger younger queen. Cobus🐳

[@Dougarrowhead]

@@jacobuslodewikusjoubert4467 hives swarm out all the time. It's not uncommon for each new queen that emerges to take a portion of the hive with her. Queens don't always kill all the other queen brood. Mine never do.

[@user-md4di6yg2p]

Who knew?! Great idea! Thanks for posting this video!

[@s.fla.beekeepingmangoesand1517]

I loved this vid. Thanks for sharing the trick. I was surprised when you mentioned a top bar and confused when you held the frame over the frameless top bar box. I wasn't expecting "the shake". I miss my top bar. I'm curious to know how you had so much drawn comb in you top bars? I destroyed the comb when harvesting honey.

[@WoolieBsApiary]

I do not harvest honey from the tbh. That is a toy I play with. I might inspect it 3 times a year. I'll watch it so I can expect it to swarm and catch it using this same method. It is right up there with the polystyrene hives as far as how strong it is coming out of winter. This video is the only time it did not make it through winter in 10 years so far.

[@drpreppersurvival4775]

Very good. Never though of cacting a swarm with a frame of comb and swarm commander.

[@WoolieBsApiary]

that is why i do these videos 2 show there is a different way to do things and i think my way is a lot less work than ie them clustering 30 ft up. thanks for watching.

[@moebees3060]

Clever idea but why not use a top bar comb since it was going into a top bar hive? Then you don’t have to shake them.

[@WoolieBsApiary]

every bar in the hive had honey in it so as not to start robbing i used a dry langstroth frame.

[@JakeBeesos]

That seemed very easy... cool

[@davidhorsley4657]

Why is this a swarm, instead of a bunch of bees on a frame of resources? How do you know those aren't all bees from other hives finding a surprise source of food?

[@WoolieBsApiary]

ill type it again. this is not a collection of bees from other hives i showed the hive i watched them swarm out of. the top bar hive is alive and thriving with a buckfast f1 daughter.

[@rupertmedford3901]

I guess you have to have your frame out before the settle in a limb? Any tips for if they settle? And you can't reach them?

[@WoolieBsApiary]

ive soaked the swarm with a water hose then thrown a 1/4" rope with a metal disc over the limb and shook them down onto a sheet.

[@donbearden1953]

I want to see you go through the hive that they came from!

[@WoolieBsApiary]

unless something comes up that video will be the next one up. thanks for watching. just for you heres the link.kzbin.info/www/bejne/fHfdZK2KqK6ofaM

[@geanitsucuneli4791]

Next time take a deep... box ,with 3 frames.Put few drops of esential oil of lemon grass, on those frames, put the deep close to the swarm ,leave the top area of the box open.They will be inside of the box in now time.Good luck!

[@WoolieBsApiary]

you missed the point of the video but thats ok. the video was to show how easy it is to collect a swarm and with a single frame you can direct where you want the swarm to land so thanks for watching you are correct but showing how they collect on the frame helps new beekeepers not old hands like me.

[@geanitsucuneli4791]

@@WoolieBsApiaryYou want those Bees in the Box... .not all over the tree...and don't forget that lemon grass esential is like a magnet for bee.I have 2000 beehive and I do almond polination.My bees are Carniola and in the spring we have a lot of swarming, but, we control those swarmings.If you take that Queen away from them ,in jus few hours they will go back to the old house and suport the new young Queen.

[@Jellyf0x]

Do you know why they wont walk on the patch where you sprayed the Swarm Commander?

[@WoolieBsApiary]

Smell is to strong

[@JustMe-hc8mp]

I got swarm commander at the start of my area's warming period (NC has funky weather that doesn't always align with seasons). It smells like lemon pledge. Is that right? I had bees inspecting empty hives before I sprayed it, now no bees go near them.

[@davidcarpenter542]

A small amount goes a long way . Too much will cause the bees to leave .Just three drops on a cotton ball inside a baggie with the top not sealed and placed in bottom of bait hive is all you need.Sometimes a small q tip with two drops of swarm commander on it and swiped on the front of the hive opening is also helpful .

[@WoolieBsApiary]

i would never put it on the entrance hole of the trap. i do a spray on the top of the frame in the very back. i want them to come into the trap not build on the under side.

[@alfredoromo6540]

What time of year you can do this? Thanks for sharing

[@WoolieBsApiary]

anytime you see a swarm in the air.

[@HiveandHoller]

Very interesting way to catch a swarm. Glad you got it before it got away.

[@WoolieBsApiary]

its so simple if you catch them before they light.

[@mcorne8134]

You say it is simple if you catch them before they “light”- what do you mean “before they light”?

[@WoolieBsApiary]

before they cluster in a tree on the wall ect

[@dexstewart2450]

As in 'alight' - land

[@JDBeastmode]

Dex Stewart as in “light a shuck” it’s an old hillbilly saying

[@backyardbeeandgarden3875]

Subscribed! What a cool trick! I have to try this if one of my hives swarm!

[@WoolieBsApiary]

it works every time.

[@robbantheman84able]

"Easy" yeah right

[@evanbell3238]

So by saying the virgin queen didn't want to stay there then your saying that hive has swarmed twice?

[@WoolieBsApiary]

No that hive was used as a starter finisher. I used all the grafts making splits and left the few cells they drew off the combs

[@Pren10]

In that case, these types of swarms might possibly contain multiple queens. Found a swarm once with 11 virgins in it at my QC hatching yard.

[@WoolieBsApiary]

@@Pren10 kzbin.info/www/bejne/fHfdZK2KqK6ofaM post swarm hive inspection

[@matthewmccormick2417]

ALWATS, ALWATS look for more then 1 Queen in a swarm. Do not just look at the swarm look for a ball of bee's on the ground. Have seen up to 5+ Queens in 1 swarm

[@WoolieBsApiary]

good advise. BUT in a managed queen rearing yard there is only one cell put into a colony so there can only be one queen.

[@priyacharichakravarti6868]

I thought it was a clever idea to use the frame to lure the swarm. But didn’t understand why the frame wasn’t gently positioned into the hive for the bees to go on to do what they do in a hive without shaking the heck out of them! Strange logics. 🤔

[@WoolieBsApiary]

the hive they were put into is a top bar hive and the langstroth frame would not fit. the bars are V shaped not rectangled

[@ITZIQFAMILYLEBAHMADU]

Hai... Good job..

[@WoolieBsApiary]

simple and easy

[@MarcellaSmithVegan]

Could these just be foragers from the other hives attracted to the chemical swarm commander?

[@WoolieBsApiary]

no sir there is a laying queen in the top bar hive i shook them into.

[@MarcellaSmithVegan]

@@WoolieBsApiary Thank you, the dots in my head must not have all connected, lol

[@EnergyhillsBees]

Genius!

[@paulawaldrep3760]

I like that method!!! :)

[@apismellifera1000]

I did that once

[@MegaDavyk]

Sort of like a Russian Scion

[@WoolieBsApiary]

i hung a frame on a fence post knowing a hive was about to swarm and went down later and they were swarming and landing on it i really need to build a real one. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZLTmKeGfcZ1js0

[@TVHM]

Wow awesome man

[@newkid173tracy4]

👍

[@seanjordan3870]

Not a fan of you dumping the bees in the box when you could've just set that tray inside without shaking them.

[@WoolieBsApiary]

langstroth frames do not fit in a top bar hive so you have to get the bees off the frame. have you never shaken a swarm out of a tree no difference.

[@mark-wn5ek]

Why didn't you just use foundation from the top bar hive instead of having to shake that lang. foundation . I figure you can't shake that top bar foundation for fear of coming apart...but why not let the bees congregate on it, set it in, give them another frame and so forth? Shaking the bees doesn't bother me...but why bother if you don't have to? Regardless, that's a great method...glad you got them.

[@WoolieBsApiary]

very valid point but you have to consider what i did not show you. 1 every bar in the hive had at least 1/4 to full bar of honey. while a swarm will stir up a bunch of hives when you are running 100ish at one yard. and in doing that i did not want to maybe start a robbing issue with a new queen and workers that had not set up shop in their new home with no plans for defense of that hive. thanks for watching

[@mark-wn5ek]

@@WoolieBsApiary Ah ha! And as Paul Harvey used to say; And now, the rest of the story! I've caught four swarms in the last week, two in traps, two in trees. No two retrievals are the same. As for robbing...I absolutely hate it. I haven't found a realistic way to stop it once it starts and it's pure Beemageddon while going on.

[@WoolieBsApiary]

@@mark-wn5ek before i got rid of every italian hive in my operation i would smoke the hell out of the outside of the hive and once they get tired of the smoke it takes 5 minutes then i move the hive. now that i do not have italians in my operation i do not have robbing issues unless i leave a frame of honey out.

[@copstopaudits9527]

YO....

[@CrazyWhiteVanDriver]

One way to encourage robbing. And disease. Ever had AFB. If so you'd never do this. Ever.

[@joelouis1889]

How is this robbing? Im new to this Idk anything

[@WoolieBsApiary]

@@joelouis1889 its not robbing it was a frame of drawn brood comb with a 1/8 squirt of swarm commander. people do not pay attention or comment and do not watch the video.

[@WoolieBsApiary]

Ned Kelly did you even watch the video it was a drawn frame of brood comb with NOTHING in the cells and a 1/8 squirt of swarm commander.