I got a question ? Could you have placed a few combs of brood in another box with those queen cells then moved that box and the queen hatch become mated and fly back to the box with the brood comb that was removed from the swarm just caught ? I catch a lot of swarms here in Ky. I just felt those queen cells would have been a great colony as well if that queen came back that hatched out of the frames removed or do you think it would of just became a small swarm that didn’t return to the frames moved in the box that had just the frames of brood and cells with some bees..
I’ve heard you talk about Lemon Grass as a queen pheromone lure bee swarms…do you mean essential oil? If so you can find it bulk and very affordable at Bulk Apothecary online. Cheers! Thanks for great content (and showing us that we’re not the only ones that drop stuff!). BTW- I’ll look out for you for some elevator shoes so you can retrieve your traps easier! Lol!
Haha I was born in Anderson Indiana! For sure, I just need to take my beekeeping to my dad pun level and the bees will put the honey in the bottles themselves.
I know they are free bees however can you tell if they are Italians or Russians?? I caught 4 swarms this weekend and I'm not for sure..But they are Free!!
Yes good day this is K Jake Neufeld out of a Canada here in the small beekeeper I watch your videos all the time there of much help to me thanks for all your videos they’re awesome
Nice video!! Im in north central Maine ( Just below Baxter State Park) and will a swarm trap catch wild bees? I plan on getting a beehive next year in 2021.
Yoooooo Kamon! I caught a swarm in a owl box. I found and captured the queen. I put them in a 5 frame nuc with the queen in a cage. Question is when do I release her from the cage??? Thanks!
I'm from the LA a little further west, Louisiana. Freebees are good, the only ones better are when someone else catches then gives them to you. I have some friends that landscape chemical plants along the river when they get a swarm or a cut out they give me first chance but as a small hobby beekeeper I don't have the room for all they catch so I take most and pass them on to club members here.
A few years ago I got some free 10 frame shallow boxes. I nailed a piece of plywood on the bottom of those shallows and drilled an entrance hole. I use a deep on top of a shallow for a swarm trap. If it catches I just sit that deep onto a regular bottom board when I get to my yard.
New sub, really enjoy your videos and great tips. Have a question about swarm trap, I have comb from the fall but worry about wax moths getting in it before I catch anything. What’s your thought on that? Thanks again, hope you have a great season!
When working with single deeps brood boxes, how often do you think I should check for swarm cells? I really don't want them to swarm and bother my neighbors.
You could inspect your Hive x1 Deep by tilting it on its side carefully ! (Swarm cells are primarily along the bottom of the frames.) If you see some, either mash them. Or do what's called a Split.*) *Open Deep do an inspection to get status : Do a Split if you have lots of capped Brood*, or lots of Swarm Cells*. Take x2 frames of Bees with Queen, inc Brood. Or a well capped Swarm Cell, with Bees, Brood and food. (x 1good Swarm Cell only !) Both options : And, put in a Nuc five frame box. X2 Bees, x1 Pollen + Nectar, x1 Honey, and x1 empty foundation. Stuff the entrance at dusk, with green grass, and leave box in the shade of 24-48hrs. The bees lose their orientation (to old home, and or 'loyalty' to former Queen (become 'Queenless' re Cell hive.) Grass will wilt, and bees will be reset to new status ! They will build up population with Queen again. Or raise their own Virgin Queen, who will go on her mating flight, becoming a hive in its own right. (Do not open Cell Hive for x2 weeks after hatching a queen, she needs quiet and no disturbance to start laying successfully ! If no Queen, re join both boxes by using newspaper sheet between, so bees join slowly and accept each other again ! (Eg near end of season... Survive winter.) Hope this helps .... 🐝
coulda woulda shoulda made a triple wake away - unless you don't need more hives. :) I have been told that once they build and load queen cups you can't stop the swarm instinct. Do you know if you stopped it or if they in fact did go on to swarm? Thanks.
How many frames do u put in your traps? All old brood comb, some old brood with a few empty frames? I’m going to use single deeps for the third time, I’ve had no luck so far! I’ve never used old comb in traps either, I’m hoping that was my weakness
jeez kamon stuff happens. Ya'll had three interlopers in yur bonnet, and then get stung on the hand holding the frame. I haven't dropped one yet but I would feel not too bad if I had three mongols in my bonnet and then have the hand holding it jerk back. Ya'll are a good bee man kamon. I like ya'll pretty much for a short guy. get another couple guys and play us a tune while you bee run. my great great great grandpa Pitchford died in the civil war as cavalry in your state, so I am kind of partial to Tennessee. In the East of the state. I have a letter home from him if you ever care to read it.
Love watching you jump in there with bare arms, but it bothered me more than it should have to watch you split that brood on the bottom super! They look like they're active enough to cover both sections, though. I try to always put my empty frames on the outside of the cluster.
Kamon, could you have made some nuc's with that colony - and if so why didn't you? You must be hoping it will be a production hive I suppose. That was a huge swarm and what a queen!
Kamon on your swarm traps boxes do you put a entrance reducer in or do you leave it completely open all the way across. Thank you for all your info you help us with . ??
Do you switch out the queen from a swarm, to a more swarm resistant queen, or do you just leave her? if not, dont you just risk breeding queens with a high risk of swarming?
Greetings from Texas. Nice swarm. I have just started keeping bees and have a lot to learn. The first swarm I fought came back the next day and they were gone. 🐝
I'm going to set a few traps this year. A person contacted me about a colony he has had in his porch for about three years. I am sure they have swarmed a couple times, I'm not sure if I can take his porch apart or not, so trap it is. Still cold here at the Tonganoxie split apiary!
Kamon, there is generally a reason why we do or don't do things which makes me want to ask you why you didn't scrape off everything built off the bottom of the frames but especially that last frame taken from the swarm box that had many queen cups and cells. I would have so I'm asking to see what I can learn. Can you take a minute to explain the pros and cons of leaving it there?
At first a beekeeper keeps it all clean and spends time cutting all that stuff off. It gets built back. Look at Ian Stepler's hives. He don't have time for that and his hives rock. Practice cups like that are very common. If it makes you feel better pinch each one. I do sometimes..
Swarming is natural, it is God's plan for increasing total bee population by making additional bee producing queens with their own hives. There are several events that trigger swarming but overcrowding is usually the issue, no room for more brood or honey. Making sure the hive has the room they need by adding another box before they start raising a new queen is key. If they have begun the swarm mode it is difficult to stop it and splitting the hive is your best option if you don't want to increase the feral bee population. Best done by mimicking the swarming outcome which is to leave the queen cells and half the bees, brood and feed where they are and removing the other half with the queen to another bee yard so that the forager bees you remove stay with the colony.
I never get bored with your videos and I love your photography especially the close-ups which are really helpful to a beginner in identifying different aspects of beekeeping
What happens: you go out to the yard with your camera. You're mind is set on "I think I'll mark those queens in nucs". Swarm ensues, plan changes, and you scramble around looking like a fool ON CAMERA. Give him a break. 😎