This is a pretty good reference too…very specific list towards middle /bottom
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I’ll have a read- cheers Kirsten.
Saw my brother today: he saw a swarm at a shopping center yesterday! It was on a shopping trolley in the car park! He was going to call me but a beekeeper was already on the way and nabbed it… Dang! But it shows spring has indeed come early here in Adelaide. Gotta get my hives out ASAP. The good news is i just finished building my mcguyver ‘beehive deep frier’ 3 complete hives to hot wax dip and 15 more on the way…
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Gooday Folks ,
The Captain Here ,
All my tricks are just about covered but just a couple pf insights :-
Location is critical . Locate your bait hive where a swarm landed in previous years . Aa friend has a ferril hive in his roof cavity , it swarms every year several times and the swarms land on a lemon tree twenty feet from the house every time . So i just put my 8 x frame Bait hive in a fork of the lemontree ,tied it in place and presto - thank you very much . So there are several prime locations and the bees settle close to the parent hive to ensure the Queen is with them . If so then off they go in 20 minutes or in two to three days .
Do not put out honeycomb as hive beetle will attack and so will other unwanted foragers as there is no defense -just robbers . Use old bee boxes with remnant burr comb and an old brood comb .Failing this ,rub some wax or wax dip the box and frames - with top bar starter strip of foundation , anything to make it bee friendly and the scouts will be interested . Bees will notoriously inhabit old hive locations , some by "situation " some by smell and all of the above comments - Happy Baiting
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So I have some old plastic buckets which hold about four gallons. I drilled a 3/4 inch hole in the bottom and screwed a board next to the hole which can be rotated to close the hole. I also drilled a 1-1/2 inch hole higher up and covered it with screen. I am hoping to hang these in some trees near where I have seen honey bees foraging. I have some old comb and lemon grass to place in the buckets. Comments? Any chance of catching a swarm? The buckets have been used for mixing mortar but have also been laying about for a few years. They have no smell that I can detect but I am not a bee.
If you don’t have luck with your buckets- you might try what I did- which was to put my name on a swarm wanted list with our local beekeeping association. 7 days after I put my name on the list I was given two swarms and offered another one I couldn’t take. Your buckets will be ok for transferring swarms if you get given one. If you don’t have a local beekeeping society- you could try advertising on gumtree for swarm removal. I have been told about several swarms over the last month but didn’t have equipment ready and waiting to rush out and nab them. Now I have a little swarm kit ready for next time.
Anything is worth a try, I’ve heard of bees moving into a piece of rolled up carpet. However I wouldn’t use a piece of rolled up carpet as a lure. I think I’d be making a lure out of wood with about 40 liters inside volume with about a 1 - 2" hole & attach it firmly about 3 meters up a tree.
Yes, bees like the height
I put mine on various roofs
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